Reversed
by File 13
Summary: Usually the order is novel to movie, but not in this case. Time to break out the popcorn and reverse the norm, where I take scenes from the manga, English sub, and English dub of Inuyasha, and put it into novel form for the heck of it. "Dead Red Sea"
1. Push Her Away

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 52** _(English Sub, English Dub)_

 **Chapter 187** _(English Translation)_

" _Push Her Away"_

* * *

Over there. Unsurprisingly, he was hiding from them all. Kagome watched silently as he splashed in the water, panting and choking, obviously trying so desperately to wash the blood from his claws, out of his silver hair, out of his robes. Over the sound of the water, she heard him swear aloud, staring at his hands with something like revulsion.

He must have caught her scent, because he suddenly glanced her way, their eyes catching for a moment before he looked away again, splashing and sloshing back up to the bank. With a little huff, he flopped onto the ground, his posture stiff. He was soaking wet. Silently, ever so slowly, Kagome stepped forward and sat beside him, pulling her knees to her chest and momentarily clutching the towel to her chest. He turned away as she sat down.

"Towel." She offered him the towel.

"Stop." His voice was cold and low. A little curl of hurt flared in Kagome's chest at the frigid command, but after a moment, she lowered the towel, slumping a little. She understood why he was being so cold. And he was wrong.

A heavy, chilling, mournful silence stretched on between them, like a physical barrier that sat between them. Kagome half attempted to find something to say, searching half heartedly for words that would get rid of that terrible silence, that could take away that horrible, woeful, loathing disgust that settled deep in Inuyasha's expression.

"You don't have to force yourself to stay by me." Kagome looked up in surprise, then turned to Inuyasha. He continued to scowl bitterly at the ground before him. Somehow, she understood that he wasn't just talking about sit sitting by him. She knew that he was telling her that it was okay for her to leave him completely, to abandon him, the leave the Sengoku Jidai forever for fear of him and his demonic power. He turned to face her after a long moment when she didn't answer.

And she was just staring at him. Staring with those soulful dark eyes where he could see the lights off the river, where he could see the gold flecks shining in the setting sun. Staring with that expression full of that maddening, despicable sorrow, that sickening compassion, that hatefully empathetic stare. Like she actually _cared_.

Something snapped.

Suddenly furious, he whirled around to face her, baring his teeth with his hand on his knee and ears pressed flat against his skull. He hoped a little fang and what he was about to say was going to do the job. She just didn't understand. She didn't understand what he was, what he could do to her, that she was in danger just by associating with him, that he was practically telling her to get away from him, to protect herself from him. He was a _monster,_ a monster with no control and killed and murdered.

He needed to scare her, to burn that fact into her mind forever, to _make_ her see sense. " _What_!" he screamed into that calm, melancholy, pretty face. "What's your issue! Everyone's been tiptoeing around me! Now get this, Kagome; _I don't care_! I don't care, I don't care what happened, I don't care those men died, it doesn't _bother_ me! I don't give a _damn_ what I did! STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT AND SAY SOMETHING!"

"Inuyasha…"

He suddenly couldn't talk. His mouth had gone dry as bones. His emotions had gone from furious and upset to bewilderment… And honestly, maybe a little sad. He tried to continued to glower and snarl at her, but he knew it had become a more pained, confused grimace than anything. " _Inuyasha_ ," he repeated bitterly, with as much contempt as he could gather and force into each syllable of his own name before turning quickly away. Better to keep what little face he had. " _Keh_."

His name. Was that really all it took for his mind to go blank? For him to lose any and all will to fight? He didn't want to fight Kagome. He didn't want to argue with her. Not right now at least. Not while he was so miserable and unnerved himself. Because if he was completely honest with himself, the thing he wanted most right now was simply a little comfort; something Kagome could very easily and perhaps even willingly give to him. But would she give it to him? After seeing him turn into a mindless killing machine, kill dozens of men even though they begged for their lives, their hands clasped in a plea for mercy, on their knees with tears of horror in their eyes? After he _laughed_ , and murdered them?

She couldn't possibly. And even if she _did_ care for him… He couldn't let her. He _wouldn't_ let her. He was a bomb. A bomb with the fuse lit, and no one knew when he would blow. And to be perfectly honest, he didn't want Kagome anywhere near the fallout.

Kagome simply continued to watch him, that same sad expression on her face. She didn't know anything about what was running through his head. But she did know that Inuyasha would sooner die before he hurt her, and he didn't want to die. So because of that funny way his mind worked, Inuyasha thought that the best way to protect everyone from his inner demon was to close himself off, to go into hiding, to push everyone away and build up those walls that she had spent so long pulling down. She knew he thought he was a danger to her and everyone else. He thought he wasn't worth helping. _It must so painful..._

His face wasn't that of a monster's. His face wasn't even that of a man's. It was that of a broken, disconsolate, self-loathing boy's.

Out of the corner of his eye, Inuyasha saw Kagome stand and start to walk away, but he didn't turn. He continued to stare at a patch of earth, his mouth twisted into a bitter grimace. He didn't want to see Kagome leave him, even if he knew it was for her safety. The breeze very gently blew, making his hair wave and the trees rustle and complain. Everything felt suddenly very… Empty.

The moment she touched him, he gasped. He had expected her to be gone, but no, she was kneeling behind him, her arms wrapped tightly under his arms and around his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. He was so surprised, his disconsolate scowl slipped completely from his face as Kagome spoke gently into his ear. "Inuyasha… I understand… It's going to be alright..."

And he believed her.

Despite knowing he shouldn't, despite knowing he should have stayed away from her to protect her, he believed her, and he couldn't make himself pull away. It was so nice to just accept her genuine, willingly given empathy, her real sympathy, he just couldn't bring himself to pull away. So instead he clutched at her hand, tilted his head to rest on her arm, and just accepted her solace, thinking bitterly all the while of the truth of his demonic blood.

 _Kagome… I don't remember anything from when I transformed. This has never happened before. It's so_ different _from the last time it happened... And the next time I transform? Gods… I might use these claws and tear you up too, Kagome…_

 _..._

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Sengoku Jidai - the Japanese Feuding States era; the feudal era

* * *

A/N Inuyasha's line of dialogue "stop" is something I did myself. Listening to the sub, I figured out that rather than saying "no thanks" (Kekkodesu?), he says "stop" (Yame). Honest to goodness, this scene is one of my absolute favorites in the entirety of the manga/anime.

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 _Currently listening to: Holding on to You - Twenty-One Pilots_


	2. Kagome, Hojo, and the Pumpkin

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 128** _(English Sub, English Dub)_

" _Kagome, Hojo, and the Pumpkin"_

* * *

"Higurashi!" Kagome whirled around to see a grinning, smiling Hojo waving at her. He was dressed in his blue costume and looked just as princely as his character called with the huge feathered hat, puffed sleeves, black cape, and the sword strapped to his side. The sword forced Kagome into thinking about Inuyasha (and the odd fact that the grouchy hanyou was, himself, a prince by all technical respects). His white hakama was pristine and clean and stiff with the age it had sat in the back of the costume department, and in his arms was…

"Hojo-kun?"

"Here!" With a huge, sparkly smile, her fellow thespian promptly set a huge, orange pumpkin into her arms. She took it with a vaguely faraway surprise.

"A pumpkin?" she asked quietly.

"I understand that eating this will take away stage jitters," he explained with that friendly smile. Ah. That explained a lot. Typical Hojo for believing those rumors and health tips one would most often find in clickbait ads on sketchy manga sites. Not that Hojo would ever be on a sketchy manga site. Kagome watched him in wonderment, absolutely astounded by the pumpkin in her arms and her grinning co-actor. _I thought you weren't supposed to eat the pumpkin, you were supposed to imagine the audience as pumpkins._

And then without warning, Hojo was bounding away again. "See ya! Eat up, Higurashi!"

Kagome raised an arm for her retreating peer, her eyes going wide. "Wait, Hojo!"

He was already gone, jogging through the double doors that led backstage. She watched him in a daze, her arms sagging under the weight of the heavy gourd.

 _Hojo… I can't eat it raw_.

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

none

* * *

A/N I thought this scene was absolutely hilarious, hahah. Being in the theatre myself, color me amused XD

Also, I read all of my manga on a site called "Kiss Manga"? If you need a visual to the kind of manga site I'm talking about, go there, bwhahahahah XD

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Holding on the You - Twenty-One Pilots_


	3. The Play That Went Wrong

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 128** _(English Sub, English Dub)_

" _The Play That Went Wrong"_

* * *

The lights were bright in her eyes. She could feel the sweat building up under the thick layer of stage makeup on her face, even though she had only been standing under the bright stage lights for maybe half an hour, at most. She was facing Hojo now, only he wasn't Hojo, he was the Prince Pierre Pana-Cotta. And she wasn't supposed to be Kagome anymore, she was supposed to be the Princess Escargot Pudding, Lady of the West, heir to a kingdom and destined for a sad fate. However, Kagome simply could not feel the character just now. Not when thoughts of boiled demons running wild around the school pervaded her mind.

Hojo spread his arms wide, his good looking face (just as painted with stage makeup as hers) shining with emotion. He was very much in character. "Oh, Lady Escargot!" he said, his voice risen in passion. "To me, you're a sole meuniere, an oyster on the half shell, the finest shishimi!"

"You make me so happy, Pierre Panna-Cotta!" Kagome found her character saying, clasping her hands together and smiling with a simple, maidenly pleasure. "I do think that I am deeply, madly, _ravenously-_ "

Hojo turned away, his hand on his chest. "You need not say any more, my princess," he interrupted, screwing his eyes shut with excellent character. He smiled and flung his arms wide. "Come, my Lady! Let me feel your embrace, and come into my arms!"

Her feet moved with practiced, secretly mechanical movement that came from rehearsals. "Pierre!"

"Escargot!"

They were mere feet from each other when it happened. There was a rumbling, then a roaring, then a crash as something silver and red barreled out through the skrim and backdrop fly.

"Hold on here!" shouted a rough, furious, horribly familiar voice. The "something" landed, throwing up dust and splinters and cracking the stage as he landed with such force, he knocked Kagome and Hojo off their feet. Kagome landed hard on her back with a sharp gasp, sliding away, then coming to a stop. Her head spinning as the dust settled, she was greeted by the impressive and entirely unwelcome sight of a certain dog-eared half demon as he straightened up and squared his shoulders. She could hear him growling from where she was, open mouthed and on the ground.

 _Oh no…_

The tech crew must have been on the ball tonight: somebody had decided to put a spot on Inuyasha, throwing his face into shadow so his odd eyes gleamed as he towered above a shocked Hojo. "Who the hell are you?" he spat out at the boy, not even sparing Kagome glance at as she sat tangled in her pink gown. "You'd better have a good explanation, bastard."

Hojo opened and closed his mouth several times, letting out a stuttered, "Uh… I'm… Uh… Well… The… Prince?"

 _This is bad_ , Kagome thought, glancing between the bristling hanyou and the rapidly blinking Hojo, who was totally ignorant to the fact that Inuyasha was a half demon. _I gotta do something!_

With hardly more thought than that, she struggled to her feet and threw herself at Inuyasha, trying hard to stay in character. What better way was there to explain the sudden appearance of a totally new character than to use some quick improv and pretend he was an actual character? The audience need never know that none of this was in the script.

"Stop, please!" Kagome said, her voice breaking magnificently as she clutched at Inuyasha's kimono sleeve. He whirled around and faced her, eyes wide and mouth slack.

"Huh?" he squeaked, rather unintelligently.

"You must not fight over me," she continued as though he hadn't said anything, staring insistently into his bewildered expression, turning dramatically away from him a moment. "Doing so would only end in heartache." She looked back at him, very nearly shouting. "So I beg of you, please, stop this very moment!"

Inuyasha blinked twice, looking baffled and concerned. A fang was just barely visible with his slack jaw. "What're you sayin'?" he mumbled. "Did you hit your head or something?"

"Nevermind," she hissed between her teeth, narrowing her gaze and trying to move her mouth as little as possible. "Just play along with what I'm doing, okay?" Heart beating wildly, the peered around Inuyasha's chest to lock eyes with Hojo, still on the ground and with the same slack-jawed expression of shock on his face as Inuyasha. "Hojo?" she whispered imploringly, ignoring Inuyasha's little "huh?".

Hojo's mouth snapped shut and he nodded, his face set as he got to his feet. "I understand, Higurashi," he hissed quietly as well, straightening.

And suddenly, the play was on again.

"Oh please, my dearest Hanabart Pekopon," Kagome said as she suddenly became a lovestruck princess, stepping away from Inuyasha and staring into his face. Escargot deflated a little bit and turned away in shame. "This is all my fault, so please…" She inhaled, swung back to the two boys, and shouted, "Please, don't blame Pierre!"

She ignored Inuyasha as he cocked his head to the side and said haltingly, his voice trailing, "Hanna… Pek… Opon?"

She flung out her arm making the utterly lost hanyou turn and face Hojo, his ears pressed flat against his head and eyes wide. "Oh Pierre, please leave!" she cried, ignoring the faint little whimpers of confusion. "I cannot involve you any longer in this dangerous, tangled web." _Excellent_ , she was really thinking, a wry sort of triumph in her heart. _Now all I need to do is make up some lines and wrap this up._

Unfortunately, Hojo wasn't quite ready to give it up.

"No! I refuse to run, Princess! I will never leave you!"

Kagome blinked and whimpered out loud.

"Step away from Lady Escargot!" he shouted into Inuyasha's suddenly dark and serious face, throwing a hand out dramatically. Kagome physically reeled away. It had just gone from bad to worse!

"Take your filthy hands off of her, Hannabart!" he continued like nothing had happened. "Let us duel this moment, and see who deserves the affections of the beautiful Princess Escargot!"

And then he drew the sword.

The flimsy, plastic sword that was sat abandoned in the back of the costume closet for ten years.

The chintzy, made-in-China, mass produced sword with the badly redone paint job.

The little, fake _toy_ that Hojo had unwisely drawn and was now brandishing at a very dangerous, war-hardened, currently very hostile half demon.

Kagome made another strangled little noise in the back of her throat as Inuyasha stiffened, laying a clawed hand delicately on the Tetsusaiga at his hip. "Fine by me," he growled, and then - to Kagome's horror - he drew the sword from its sheath. It flashed and grew to its true size, gleaming harshly in the spotlights and looking far more dangerous than Hojo's plastic blade.

Kagome stumbled back, aghast. A nerve was going in her eye. _It was going so smoothly,_ she thought despairingly. _How'd it end up like_ this _!_

Before Inuyasha could do more than sneer, and Hojo could do more than have his expression go fuzzy with confusion, the stage shook and rumbled. Everyone stumbled around, barely keeping their footing. "Wh-what the-!" Inuyasha barked, looking around for the source.

He didn't have long to look, because suddenly the stage between him and Hojo exploded. Something big, and round, and green, and toothy rose from the wreckage with a loud, low moan. It looked oddly like a watermelon.

"Youkai!" Kagome cried.

Inuyasha actually laughed, his tone suddenly business-like. "So this is where you've been hiding," he snarked to the settling demon.

Kagome felt herself nearly fainting. This was bad. This was the worst. A demon? And Inuyasha? And the Tetsusaiga? _It's all over_ , moaned the voice in her head. _Everyone's going to find out about… About… And after I tried so hard..._

She turned to the audience, on the verge of tears.

"Wow! This is amazing!" "How did they do that!" "This is so cool!" "This is great! Slay the demon!" "Come one, Inu-no-nii-chan!" "Right on!"

 _They haven't figured it out yet._ Somehow, Kagome simply could not believe that people could be so blind.

"It seems our duel's been postponed," Hojo said good-naturedly to Inuyasha, turning his sword on the melon demon and pulling Kagome's attention back to the boys on stage.

Inuyasha stared for a moment, then smirked and turned to the demon as well. "Looks like you get a reprieve." Kagome couldn't tell is he was joking or not.

With a wild cry, Hojo ran for the demon. "Prepare to die youkai!" Kagome clapped her hands to her face, astounded that Hojo - one of the most intelligent guys in her year - was running at a demon with a toy sword in hand. _What are you doing, Hojo_! She thought, shaking her head. _That's a real one!_

He was either incredibly brave or incredibly ignorant, but either way, Kagome simply couldn't let him take on the thing. " _Inuya-_ " She caught herself. "I mean, _Pekopon_! DO SOMETHING!"

"Don't need to tell me twice!" he laughed, throwing his head back and readying his attack. He didn't understand quite what was going on, but fighting was one thing he understood perfectly. " _Kaze no Kizu_!"

The rush of demonic wind flew from the Tetsusaiga, ripping up the stage, blowing everyone away. _W-why'd you have to go overkill_? Kagome thought faintly as she fell to the ground.

When the dust cleared, there were nasty bits of food demon scattered about and sunlight streaming through a huge hole in the roof.

Silence pressed upon their eardrums as everyone gaped at the sight.

Everyone, that was, except for a very satisfied looking Inuyasha, who sheathed his sword and flashed a thumbs up. " _Hah_! How's _that_?"

Kagome shook her head, reminding herself that she still had a job to do.

"Let's go, Pekopon!" she cried, latching herself once again onto Inuyasha's robes and going into her dramatic acting voice like a giant watermelon demon hadn't just exploded. Inuyasha turned back to her with that same bewildered expression. She scowled a little, throwing him a significant look. "Please, take me away now, while we still have a chance!" She gestured to the hole in the roof. "Take me away, away, beyond that sky!"

A nerve in Inuyasha's brow twitched. He was looking at her now like she had gone nuts, and he wasn't amused. "Uh… Seriously, are you okay?"

"Just hurry up and do it," she snapped under her breath, dropping all pretense.

"O-okay," the half demon stuttered. Kagome was scary when she was mad.

The only thing scarier was how her face switched from furious to serene in no time flat as he lifted her into his arms, shouting to the stunned audience a final goodbye. "Farewell, everyone! Rejoice in the knowledge that I, the Princess Escargot Pudding, will be free from all the burdens of the world and live happily ever after!"

Her voice was very faint to the gathered audience as they heard a final, shouted, "Farewell!"

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Skrim - a large sheet of fabric that is on most stages, which can be opaque or transparent depending on where the light it placed

Fly - a pole across a stage to which a prop or scene is attached and "flown" by lowering from the ceiling to the stage

Spot - a spotlight

Hanyou - a half demon/youkai

Improv - improvisational action or/or dialogue

Youkai - a demon/spirit

Inu-no-nii-chan - a term of endearment Souta uses for Inuyasha; literally "dog brother"

Tetsusaiga - Inuyasha's sword; "iron crushing fang"

Kaze no Kizu - "wind scar"

* * *

A/N I apologize for the pointless addition to the theatre lingo, lolz. Did anyone else die of laughter with this scene? No, just me? Okay, I'ma just... *sinks into trashcan*

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 _Currently listening to: Kitchen Sink - Twenty-One Pilots  
_


	4. Liver Potion Foul

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 89** _(English Sub, English Dub)_

" _Liver Potion Foul"_

* * *

There was a noise outside the door, and she sat up just in time to watch Inuyasha stride in, stony-faced as ever and holding a mug of something steaming. Perhaps the rice gruel her mother had offered? He spared her a glance, then turned back to where he was walking. Souta trailed after him, a curiously disgusted expression all over his young face.

"Inuyasha…" she said in mild surprise as he came to a halt in front of her. "What are you-"

"Here," he interrupted her shortly. He sounded a little lost as he shoved the steaming mug in her direction. "Medicine. Drink."

Bewildered, Kagome leaned forward to peer into the cup. "Medicine?" she asked faintly, taking a little sniff. She was greeted by the most disgusting smell: it was like eggs, old socks, burnt meat, sour milk, and something bitter had all been blended together and left in a hot car for a week. She froze a moment with a little noise of disgust, then - very careful _not_ to breathe it in again - pinched her nose shut and slowly leaned away. "That's disgusting..."

Inuyasha was smiling, still holding the putrid concoction out to her. "It'll cure any cold in an instant. I _promise_ if you drink it, you'll get better."

She turned back to him skeptically, raising an eyebrow. His face had settled back into something serious, a silent demand for her to take the cup. However, she did register the fact that he _had_ promised her it would work, and he didn't often promise anything. So after a moment, she reached forward and took the mug from his clawed hands. Licking her lips and glancing once more at his face, then at Souta, then into the foul smelling medicine, she took a sip. Souta's jaw dropped open, looking scandalized by the foot of her bedstead.

It tasted pretty much exactly how it smelled. She was hard pressed not to throw up, gagging as it passed over her tongue. She _definitely_ pulled a face. " _Ew_! It's so _gross_!" she squealed, her voice rising with her disgust.

Inuyasha actually laughed as he sat on her bed - the brightest and most genuine, amused little chuckle she had ever heard come out of his mouth. He turned to her as he folded his hands into his sleeves, looking ridiculously happy. "So what?" Inuyasha answered, his words broken with short, chuffing laughs. "It might taste bad, but it'll definitely work. Just bear it and drink."

"You made it?" she asked, curious, but also trying to avoid the act of drinking the horrendous thing.

"Well, yeah," shrugged the half demon, letting the statement hang.

"Well, if you're _sure_ it'll work," she said slowly, looking into the medicine's vile yellow depths, "I guess I can deal with the taste and choke it down." She raised it to her lips again, then hesitated, turning back to the silver-haired hanyou with a hand over her nose. "And… You _are_ sure it'll work?" she asked one more time, as if she were looking for any chance to get out of drinking.

Inuyasha straightened, his toothy smile widening. "I _promise_. Trust me."

Kagome slowly shook her head in amusement, then nodded. With a deep breath, she raised the mug to her lips once again and began to gulp it down. With her eyes screwed tight and Inuyasha watching her carefully, neither of them saw as Souta stumbled back in revulsion, watching his sister in horror as she tipped back what he knew to be a stew of barely cooked livers and bitter herbs, her brow furrowed.

"She's _drinking_ it," he groaned quietly. Inuyasha's ear twitched, but he continued to watch Kagome. "Nee-chan is _actually_ drinking _liver potion_ …" He was silent for a long moment, watching Kagome tip her chin back to swallow the last few drops of the medicine, then repeated in a weak tone, " _Liver_ potion…"

Souta loved and admired his hero and all, but the idea that his solution to a cold would be something so repulsive was a bit scarring. On top of that, he was pretty sure Kagome had no idea what she had just put into her mouth.

With a gasp for air, Kagome leaned forward and pulled the mug away, then sat up, looking mildly surprised. Her face cracked into a grin to match her half demon friend's. "You're _right_ ," she said in wonderment. "I think it's working!"

Inuyasha grunted in appreciation, puffing out his chest a little. "See? Told ya," he said proudly.

Kagome chuckled. "Thank you," she said sincerely

Inuyasha looked away, his face going pink as he stared at the ceiling. "Nothin' doin'. You don't have to get all _mushy_." He looked like he was trying hard not to laugh and grin, but he was failing miserably. Simple boyish pride practically dripped from the smile he fought against; after all, it wasn't often he could get Kagome to listen to him and do as he asked with minimal resistance. She giggled under her breath again.

"So, how did you know about making such a good medicine?" she asked, changing the subject. He suddenly deflated a bit, looking away with a furrowed brow and a little noise at the back of his throat. "Oh… My, uh... My mother used to…" His voice trailed off.

"Your mother?" Kagome said eagerly. "She made it for you? Did she teach you to make it?"

"Well, the ingredients are a little different," he said, turning back to look at her over his shoulder. "Haha-ue would always use dry ingredients." He chuckled again, his smirk returning. "But _I_ used _fresh_ ones."

Kagome blinked, then looked down at the empty mug in her hands. It felt suddenly like a bomb. A bomb she had just drunk. "Fresh?" she asked, her voice rising a little with worry. "Fresh _what,_ exactly?"

"Well, I used fresh…" His voice trailed off again as Souta started humming in warning, his arms crossed as he emphatically shook his head. It seemed even Inuyasha couldn't miss that warning sign, as he turned back to Kagome with wide eyes and a mildly panicked expression. "Uh, a-anyway, it'll work, so-!"

She was too tired to fight about it. "Okay. Thanks again."

"I _told_ you it was nothin'," Inuyasha said quietly, looking rather alarmed and red in the face from her gratitude, his hand on his knee. "Would you stop thanking me? You don't need to."

"Sorry for yelling at you earlier," she added, her expression saddening a little bit. Inuyasha didn't seem like he could take it any more, as he stood up awkwardly, standing there like he had something important to do even though both Higurashi's knew he didn't.

"Forget about it," he said shortly, returning to the gruff tone all concerned were used to. "Just… Go to sleep already."

Amused Kagome shook her head, but complied all the same. Off went the lights, on went the covers, shut went the window. Souta wandered out of the room, holding the mug that had once held the most foul medicines he had ever seen taken and arm's length away to put it in with the dishes. Inuyasha stayed though, sitting on the floor by the foot of her bed.

Normally, the idea of falling asleep with someone awake and watching over her would have been and excellent motive for her to stay awake; who wanted to be stared at creepily without knowing? However… She just couldn't find it in her to think that falling asleep with that hanyou boy at the foot of her bed watching the darkness so intensely and still awake was a creepy thing at all. As she pulled the covers up to her chin, something pressed against her leg, and she looked down just as the pressure lifted.

It was Inuyasha's hand. He was staring at the bump that was her leg under the thick, pink comforter with sharp focus, pressing his hand to her shin once again and lifting it. He was humming something under his breath.

"Is that a magic spell?" The half demon's bright eyes flashed gold in the light of the single nightstand light as he turned to her, ears pricked.

"Yeah," he answered faintly, patting her leg once again. "Haha-ue used to do it… To help me fall asleep."

"Oh," Kagome sighed, her eyes fluttering shut until she saw only darkness. After a moment, she spoke again. "Inuyasha?" He hummed in acknowledgement. "I wish I could have met your mother… She seems like a kind woman…"

"Yeah…" The pressure on her shin tightened for a moment, then eased. "She was kind…"

"Inuyasha…?"

"Yeah?"

She paused for a moment, then turned onto her side, settling deeper into her pillow. Sleep was already coming, dark and warm and fast. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry she died…"

She was asleep a moment after.

For a few long minutes, he just stared at her, his back against her mattress and the Tetsusaiga against his shoulder until her breathing evened out. Out of the corner of his eye, something caught his attention: it was one of those book things Kagome always carried around, lying open on the floor. However, it was different from any other book he had ever seen her reading, because this one had little pictures and no words. Curious, he shifted so he was sitting by the nightstand and picked it up.

The book did indeed hold pictures (and thank goodness, because the gods knew how little he could read), but these were different from those other books she carried in his time.

Mostly because these were pictures of her.

Pictures of Kagome raking leaves with Souta, pictures of Kagome blowing up colorful round objects with her friends, pictures of Kagome standing with a friend on her shoulders so she could reach for an apple in a high tree, pictures of Kagome and her friends in kimonos and wandering around a festival, pictures of Kagome posing with her friends and that weird guy who kept talking to her…

She was smiling in all of the pictures.

And for a moment, as he continued to turn the pages, so was he.

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Hanyou - a half demon/youkai

Nee-chan - Souta's term of endearment for his sister; "sis"

Haha-ue - a term for one's mother; "mom"

Tetsusaiga - Inuyasha's sword; "iron crushing fang"

* * *

A/N In case you can't tell, I take a fair amount of creative liberty writing these things. Most of that entire ending was never in the anime, but I always felt like that scene was just missing something, like Kagome was missing a line of dialogue or something. So I added a little sleepy line or two to fill in the gap.

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Done for the Night - Ariel, Zoey, & Eli (Ukulele vers.)  
_


	5. Jakotsu's Final Battle

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 119** _(English Sub)_

 **Chapter 269 & 270** _(English Translation)_

" _Jakotsu's Final Battle"_

* * *

 _Now!_

Had he even been in his state before he died - when he didn't have a small, sharp Jewel shard in his neck, when he had not been supported by its power, and yet had been swifter than any normal human, stronger than any normal man - Jakotsu didn't think he would have made it out of the way in time. Even with the Shikon shard, he barely made it out of harm's way. With a silvery streak of light, Inuyasha drew his powerless demon blade and lashed out at the Shichinintai member, aiming straight for his throat. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for a moment as he got a good look into that desperate, determined young man's face, saw in his expression why exactly he had been so hell-bent on slicing his head clean off his shoulders. His own expression darkened as things just got serious.

 _That little punk… He was aiming for my Jewel shard, wasn't he._

"That was close."

Inuyasha stumbled back, the fear in his gaze almost hidden by his fury as he crouched into a defensive stance. The Tetsusaiga was pointed directly at Jakotsu's heart. "I ain't got time to be playing with you all day!" the hanyou shouted, eyes flashing with - was it determination? Or was it absolute terror?

Jakotsu smiled. Only it wasn't a sweet smile. It was the smile of a poisonous reptile moments before it struck. The painted markings on his face suddenly seemed a whole lot sharper than they should have. The hair-thin cut where Inuyasha's sword had grazed his neck was welling up with blood, sending a small dribble of dark red running down his throat. He chuckled humorlessly. "Threatening me with that dull old sword?" he asked, cocking his head.

With the speed of a striking snake, the man's face fell into something frighteningly cold, and he slammed the pommel of his trick sword into one of the deepest wounds he had left on that stupid, frail human body, right in his stomach. " _You don't scare me_."

An agonizing, stabbing, electrifying wave of pain shot through Inuyasha's horrible, weak human body, rushing from the point where the hilt dug and twisted into the wound, racing up his spine and slamming into his chest. He couldn't stop the strangled gasp that dragged itself from his throat, choking on the air as it slid past.

With a piteous little whimper, he lost all strength and fell to his knees, then collapsed onto the ground entirely, still clutching his rusty, utterly _useless_ Tetsusaiga in his white-knuckled hand.

Practically giddy with the excitement that had gone flooding through the pit of his stomach at that small moan of suffering, Jakotsu stepped on that thin blade, feeling it bend into the earth under his foot. He leaned down, wrapping his calloused hands into that lovely dark hair of the inu-hanyou.

" _Inuyasha_ ," he said lovingly, lustfully drawing out every syllable with a saccharine, disgusting, lascivious caress in his voice as he lifted that handsome young face by his hair. "Aww, are you about to faint, little puppy? Don't lose consciousness quite yet, cutie, I want to hear you _scream_ , after all. I want to hear you _cry_ as I cut you up, bit by bit, listen to you beg for the sweet release of death. And then..." He giggled, that manic glint in his wide, insane eyes flashing as his gaze roved hungrily over the brutalized, bloody, weak human body. "Oh, and _then…_ We're going to embrace, and you'll _sob_ and _beg_ for mercy. And your body will be slick with your blood and sweat and tears and oh so wonderful to hold… Only then, Inuyasha, will I kill you."

Inuyasha's guts were tying themselves into knots in his throbbing stomach, disgusted by every word that was coming out of Jakotsu's red painted mouth. Everything was going dark as it was. It was all he could do to keep his eyes open, to not pass out, to glower blackly at the repulsive _freak_ who held him by the hair. _Damn it… I'm in trouble now… I've lost… Too much blood. I was hoping... I could'a caught him off guard when he got close, but…_

The thought was - at least to his muddled mind - sort of funny. Like how everything seemed on the way up to the gallows, and he knew exactly what walking up to the gallows was like. He would have laughed, had he had the energy to.

"Come on, cry for me!" Jakotsu was saying, practically squirming with anticipation as he stared hungrily into those lovely charcoal grey eyes. They were just as pretty as the gold of his true form, especially when they were half-lidded and glazed over with pain. If looks could kill, the smoldering glare suddenly directed Jakotsu's way could have murdered and buried him, ten times over, dancing on his grave before digging up the body for another round. "Where's the fun if you don't cry for me, huh?"

"If you're gonna kill me… Make it quick…" His voice wasn't even a whisper.

As Jakotsu pulled him up higher by his fistful of hair, he shot him the most hateful glare he could gather through the foggy darkness that was his weakened state. Even if he was going to die, there was one thing he swore he would not do - that he had not done in at least thirteen living years. He would not cry!

 _That's a lie_ , whispered the little voice in the back of his head. _You cried. You cried the_ moment _you thought your heart had broken… And the moment you realized that she was_ _alive_.

He swallowed hard. _That didn't count!_

From above him, Jakotsu was looking mildly disappointed, like he had been waiting hours for a show that had just been cancelled. In a way, he had. He had _so_ wanted to see the younger man cry. "As you wish," he said lightly, shaking the inu-hanyou-turned-human roughly by his lovely, soft, midnight black, oh-so _wonderful_ mass of hair. "I'll finish you off."

His dark eyes lit up with an insane light as he raised his sword. "At least give me one, _sweet_ scream of absolute _agony_ at the end," he added sweetly. Inuyasha growled as best he could and him the most baleful glare he could muster, his vision oddly clear despite the pounding in his head and the pain coursing through his entire body. Neither gaze faltered as the sadistic mercenary raised his trick sword above his head, preparing to strike the conquered, crippled hanyou down.

Something in the mountain rumbled. It was as if something huge was moving. Moving down the passages. Moving towards them. Jakotsu hesitated, peering into the darkness. "What the… What was that?"

A thousand pairs of jewel bright and glowing eyes suddenly peered out at him. He wasn't exactly scared of them, but it was still disconcerting to see hundreds of youkai suddenly staring ravenously at you, especially when… "These guys… They're not supposed to be able to get past the barrier!" he said softly. Inuyasha stirred under his fingers. He turned to look at him when suddenly, a huge and disgusting centipede youkai was crawling up his leg. With a short noise of revulsion, he cut it down, nasty bits of bug splatting onto the cold, rocky ground. More rushed at him, screaming in their horrible, primal language.

Jakotsu wasn't a member of the Shichinintai without reason. He hadn't been murdered out of fear simply because he was a good mercenary. He was one of the _best_ mercenaries. But not even he - with his trick sword and his skill - could stand against an enemy when, even if one was cut down, three more seemed to take its place. "Damn, they're still coming!"

He didn't hesitate to hurl the limp half demon in his hands at the oncoming demons. With a strangled gasp, Inuyasha slammed against a youkai as it flew towards Jakotsu, tumbling to the ground with it.

The youkai slithered out from under the red-clad man's weight, getting away from where it had landed as fast as possible.

Inuyasha did not.

Watching the oncoming wave of demons that moved like living waters around the prone figure on the cave floor, an unstoppable onslaught, Jakotsu turned tail and ran. He stopped at the point where the tunnel had forked, scrambling to get behind the stone partition and into relative safety, peeking around the corner. Something slimy brushed past his bare ankle, and he shrieked, turning to face it. Demons were pouring out the other cave as well, streaming away with their brethren, out in the direction of the entrance. Eels and snakes and flying eyeballs, youkai with rows of teeth and poisonous masses of tentacles dripping from their scaly lips, demons with horns and wings and twisted limbs, they were all there. In the pit of his stomach, something heavy felt like it was lifting - a tangled mass that was slowly unwinding.

"The presence of the barrier," the mercenary wondered aloud, looking here and there as a few more demons rushed past, racing after their retreating fellows. "It's dissipating?"

It was a few more moments after the last demon flew past that he decided it was safe enough to peer around the corner again.

Inuyasha's lifeless body was lying prone on the cold, hard stone. Blood from his innumerable wounds was pooling around him, his clothes in stringy tatters, his black hair lying wild around his head, across his arms and back. His limbs were lain spread-eagled here and there: an arm twisted behind him, his legs bend oddly, his neck twisted away from the mercenary. The Tetsusaiga was barely held in his limp hand, more of a retained position from when he had fallen than it was anything else.

Jakotsu cocked his head and walked forward, pouting like a child. Inuyasha still didn't move. _So, he's dead, huh? Shame… I so wanted to hear him scream._

Inuyasha didn't move.

He didn't move when the echoes of the demon's screeching faded.

He didn't move when Jakotsu strolled leisurely closer, a little pout on his rouged lips.

He didn't move when the first pulse of demonic power suddenly rushed into his body.

Jakotsu felt it, his gaze sharpening as he ducked his chin down to stare at the seemingly lifeless form lying prostrate on the ground across from him. The smallest trickle of trepidation rippled through his mind, and he continued to stare.

There was a second pulse of youki, stronger than the one before, and Inuyasha twitched, his whole body jerking like he had been electric shocked. And then suddenly, with a low chuckle, Inuyasha was pushing himself up to his hands and knees, seemingly rising from the dead. Snowy white was bleeding into jet black, his hair falling over his human face, white dog ears materializing out of thin air.

"Miroku… Sango…" he murmured aloud, shoulders hunched. _I came in here intending to save you guys… But you're really the ones who saved me. You're safe, aren't you._ He staggered to his feet, swinging the Tetsusaiga through the air so it sprang into its true form as he grinned toothily at the stunned Jakotsu. _And you've destroyed the kekai of Mount Hakurei!_

 _..._

* * *

 _Glossary_ :

Shikon no Tama - "the jewel of four souls"; "the sacred jewel"

Shichinintai - "the band of seven"

Hanyou - a half demon/youkai

Youkai - a demon/spirit

Youki - demonic aura

Kekai - a barrier or energy, spiritual power, or demonic aura

* * *

A/N Writing from Jakotsu's POV with all those lovely, juicy, creepy little descriptions about everything (especially dog-boi) was the highlight of my day, even if it creeped me out to the max, bwahahahah. He's sooooo creepy, lemme tell you _._ And besides that, I just like beating the snot out of Inuyasha. lol I need mental help, pffft. Love ya'll, hope you enjoy, and please leave a review

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Kitchen Sink - Twenty-One Pilots_


	6. Shows His Tears (Wide-Eyed Wonder)

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 107** _(English Sub, English Dub)_

 **Chapter 244** _(English Translation)_

" _Shows His Tears (Wide-Eyed Wonder)"_

* * *

Above her, Inuyasha continued to stare at Miroku, but he wasn't really seeing him, his face slack with a wide-eyed wonder. He seemed to have stopped breathing.

"That means… Everyone is still alive." Kagome gave a tiny, exhausted chuckle. "I'm so glad…"

"I was only able to revive you because the poison had not yet completely gone through your systems," Myoga said gravely, rocking here and there on his rotund stomach. He obviously could not get into a sitting position. He eventually gave up, slump against the ground with a heavy sight and closing his buggy eyes. "I only just made it in the nick of time. Had I been any later, none of you would have made it."

"I gotta hand it to you Myoga," Shippo said after a moment, grinning toothily at the old flea. "I guess even you can be helpful once in a while!"

"Why you insolent little whipper-snapper, how dare you speak to me like that! I'm _always_ useful, you impertinent child!" Myoga redoubled his efforts suddenly to get back to his feet, but there was no way in high heaven he would be able to do that for at least another ten minutes. Shippo snickered.

Kagome, on the other hand, was a little more worried about Inuyasha than she was Myoga's attacked pride. He had not moved at in the several seconds it had taken for Myoga and Shippo's exchange, his face still slack and blank, his jaw hanging open a little bit as he stared into nothing. He looked… Rather overwhelmed.

Guilt suddenly flooded her stomach. How much had he just _suffered_ , even in only the past two minutes, from fear that they were all about to die? How much distress had he experienced just now from the torment that she _knew_ was racing through his heart as he found all the blame, and piled it onto him, _never_ seeing himself strong enough to protect any of them? How much _grief_ had he just experienced, thinking they were all dead?

She frowned sadly and looked up at him, brows knitting together as the knot of guilt tightened, but she was too exhausted to really fight it. She couldn't even raise her hand to his face, to try and comfort him in the slightest. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha… For making you worry…"

"Stop that, you idiot!" Inuyasha suddenly barked, his gaze snapping to her tired face. "Don't you _dare_ apologize! Don't you _DARE_ say you're sorry, y... _You_..."

The longer her seemed to stare at her, she realized, the more his arms started to tremble, the more his teeth seemed to grind together, the more the nerve in his brow seemed to twitch. With an odd little clicking noise in the back of his throat - and much to her surprise - he set her swiftly back on the ground and spun away so his back was to the group, seemingly looking up into the sky. He looked uncharacteristically stiff from her position, his head tilted back ever so slightly, his legs crossed, and his fists resting flat against the ground. His usually twitchy ears were unusually still, "Inuyasha?"

There was a soft _swish_ as Shippo's tail brush past the top of her head, running past her and coming to an expectant halt in front of Inuyasha. His open expression quickly turned to one of befuddlement. "Hey, what's with you, Inuyasha?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. "You told _me_ not to cry…"

"Sh- _shaddap_!" A clawed hand came crashing down on Shippo's red head, and he squealed.

 _What…?_

Myoga had found a new way of moving: rolling around. "Don't be silly, Shippo!" he grunted, brushing past the majority of the inutachi to reach the two other demons. "I have served Inuyasha-sama for many, many years, and I have never _once_ seen him cry."

"I ain't lying," Shippo said, his vibrant eyes wide as he leapt onto Inuyasha's arm. The half demon's ears twitched as he lurched to the side. "Look at _these_ babies!"

"Let me see," Myoga said, a little too eager as he leapt on his master's arm, making him jerk to the side. "Where?"

"Look!"

" _SHUT UP_!" Inuyasha flung his arms open, smacking the two smaller demons and flinging them off his arms. They thudded against the soft ground with grunts of pain. For a moment, the hanyou seemed to struggle with himself, then he swung around to glare furiously at them all. "Why should I cry," he growled angrily, his fangs bared and brow furrowed. "Everyone's _alive_ , aren't they!"

A single tear tracked its way down his cheek, flushed a blotchy red with repressed emotion. Kagome smiled softly as several followed the first, pearly and shining, watched as he turned away from his friends once again, wiping them away furiously with the heels of both hands. The guilt in her stomach was still there, but it was overrun by the flood of affection for the poor boy. "Inuyasha…" she sighed. He sniffed loudly, scowling. _Thank you…_

 _..._

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Inutachi - the group consisting of Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo; often translated to "Inuyasha and co." in the manga

* * *

A/N Crying dog boi. Ugly cries. I need to stop writing Inukag, but I can't stop myself. I do has several scenes that are Miroku and/or Sango centric, don't worry, I just gotta get around to writing them. I go through a process where I watch the English sub, the English dub sometimes, and if there's a chapter, the English translation fo the manga and watch and write at the same time. It's a tedious process, but it's fun.

Still tedious, though..

As ever, have fun, don't die, and leave a review!

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Dream Lover - Dan Fowlks (that video of the dad and his daughter floating around the Internet)_


	7. Kind Boy

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 1 (The Final Act)** _(English Dub)_

 **Chapter 411** _(English Translation)_

" _Kind Boy"_

 _..._

* * *

It was a sweet sort of scene, if the three girls were honest as they watched their friend and her boyfriend walking alongside them. Kagome was technically getting a piggyback ride from the Inuyasha boy, though by all means he really was just carrying her. Her arms were draped limply over his shoulders, head resting in that mass of soft white hair with a tired, hollow look on her face. While Kagome looked like a soggy leaf of lettuce that had been left out too long, however, her boyfriend seemed to be the Incredible Hulk; not only was he holding the smaller girl like she weighed next-to-nothing, but he was also holding her back with one hand, and had tucked his arms under her skirt in such a way it wasn't fluttering… Oh, and he was walking along a perilously thin wooden fence, head and shoulders towering far above their heads.

So, maybe he was less Incredible Hulk, more Spiderman. The bright red clothes they supposed he wore while working at the Higurashi's shrine definitely seemed to accentuate that small comparison. His height and dress, coupled along with the limp girl he could have been rescuing and what they swore could have been a sword swinging at his hip, all made for an impressive sight.

"Are you gonna be okay, Kagome-chan?" Eri asked. Kagome gave a huge, empty sigh.

" _Keh_! She'll be fine," huffed Inuyasha, still staring straight ahead and sounding vaguely confident. He hadn't given Kagome a word of comfort once since picking her up, and she didn't react to his statement in the slightest, but the girls all got the feeling that their friend's strange beau wasn't exactly one for words to begin with. Again, it was vaguely sweet.

"How 'bout it, huh?" he continued, leaning his head back and glancing at the dark-haired girl hanging off of him. "Aren't ya glad I came to get you now?"

Kagome said nothing, simply turning and burying her face in his hair. "They're so lovey-dovey," Ayumi gushed quietly, giggling like a fool for a second and pulling her hands to her face. "It's so _cute_!"

"Somehow, all that stuff you kept insisting and complaining about your boyfriend has gotten pretty ridiculous," Yuka called up to Kagome, who glanced back blankly at the girl. "You guys seem to get along just fine."

"Yeah, he's a sweetheart," Eri added.

Kagome blinked. "I… Guess so…" she said hesitantly, unsure. She got the sudden suspicious feeling that the next time she came back to her era because of a fight with Inuyasha, her three friends weren't going to believe a word she said against him. Then again, she hadn't had such a bad fight with him in a while. Sure, he might whine and complain when she left, and he definitely sulked and moped while she was gone, but he hadn't fought her all out on letting her return to the future era, and he hadn't tried to force her into coming _back_ for some time, now. She blinked. She was running out of reasons to be mad at him!

Somehow, that almost - _almost_ \- annoyed her.

Yuka rolled her eyes, then looked unamusedly at her friend on the fence. "We'll quit bothering you guys," she said in a bored sort of tone, her eyes half closed as she raised her hand in sudden farewell. "You two have fun. We'll be right here if you need us, I guess."

"See ya," Ayumi grinned. With an almost rude abruptness, the three girls turned down a street and started walking away, undoubtedly heading for the nearest WacDonald's.

"W-wait a second!" Kagome called, pushing herself up and leaning towards the retreating figures of her friends. But too late; they were already turning down another road. She watched the corner they had disappeared for a moment longer before leaning back against Inuyasha's back, resting her cheek on his shoulder with another sigh. Inuyasha leapt off the fence and onto a rooftop, eager to speed up their journey. As they landed and the half demon picked up his pace from an easy saunter to a purposeful jog, Kagome reached up and pulled the bandanna free from his ears. They pricked up the moment the fabric left them, springing forward like a children's pop-up book.

"I don't know what just happened back there at your school," Inuyasha said as he leaped over to another rooftop, "But cheer up, Kagome!" Kagome raised her eyebrows in surprise, taken aback by his light and cheery tone. Almost… Like he was trying to look on the bright side of things, for her sake. "I betcha ya won't fail that test thing again, and at the very least ya got me." He peered over his shoulder at her, grinning toothily. "I'll always be with you, after all."

Kagome blinked stupidly. _Is… Did he just say something nice to me?_ The idea was somewhat alien. Inuyasha was rude, and impatient, and violent, and he had a foul mouth that she had very, _very_ rarely heard anything nice come out of. But now that she thought about it, the more Eri's words came back to her. ' _Your boyfriend's a sweetheart_ '.

A sweetheart, huh? Of all the things she would use to describe the half demon carrying her, ' _kind'_ wasn't really even one of them that first came to mind, let alone a ' _sweetheart'_. But then again, not every "nice guy" put his life on the line for her on a regular basis,

How many times had he fought for her sake? Kept her safe from harm? How often was it that he tried to strengthen the Tetsusaiga swinging at his hip so he could better protect her? How many times had he swung the Robe of the Fire Rat - his only reminder of his _mother_ , his only _armor_ in the world - over her shoulders to keep her from burning in fire or getting cut by swords or, for goodness sake, just to stop her freezing to death on cold, rainy nights? None of those things could be explained by anything other than the goodness of his heart. Kindness _well_ hidden behind his gruff nature.

"Yeah..." Kagome said, rather belatedly, pressing her temple against Inuyasha's, her cheek on his cheek. "Thanks, Inuyasha."

 _Know what? They might have a point. Inuyasha… Really is a sweetheart, huh?_

* * *

 _Glossary:_

None

* * *

A/N It's a crying shame this scene wasn't included in the episode. I just... I don't like The Final Act, at all. I know there was like 20 volumes to go through in only 26 episodes, but a wonderful series was rushed in the end and it kind of ruined it and glossed over a LOT of what I loved about those final volumes. In a couple of chapters I'm actually going to post a scene (with some MAJOR additions to it, because it felt a little.. Rushed, and off too) that was excluded from TFA. Really honestly, just watch the first six seasons, and then read the rest of the manga. I'm going to pretend most of season seven doesn't exist..

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Holiday - Green Day_


	8. A Heartbreaking Sound

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 113** _(English Sub)_

" _A Heartbreaking Sound"_

* * *

The grassy field had become a battlefield of smoke and flame in only a few short minutes. Here and there burned small, fiercely yellow fires, their black smoke billowing from the licking, golden tongues dancing in and out of view. In the center of the arena of death grown by nature and destroyed by her children, lay a figure of silver and crimson, face-down and clutching a sword the length of his entire body.

Smoke twirling around him, caressing him like hot fingers, filling his sensitive nose with the acrid stench of burning, the man sat up. His golden eyes - nearly as bright as the flames - were glazed over with pain, his dark brow knitted with confusion as he steadied himself on his hands and knees. He stared dazedly at the ground for a full second, then doubled over with a groan and a great, hacking cough.

On the dusty earth between his hands was a spatter of glistening red blood. His mouth tasted sickeningly of iron. Taking a deep breath, trying to calm his suddenly roiling stomach, he raised his pounding, spinning skull. What did he know? _What did he know_? Did he know his name? He thought it was Inuyasha. His enemy? The leader of the Shichinintai, the vile Bankotsu, yes? He remembered why he was on this damn island, remembered what he had been doing for the past several weeks. So what on earth had just happened? He opened his eyes dully, squinting a moment as he tried to make sense of everything he saw as he turned his throbbing head.

Smoke...

Fire...

Dust…

Blood...

The smell of burning...

Bodies...

Wait… _Bodies_?

He took a shaky breath, squinting harder at the small mounds of colored cloth and hair. Three were within his view just now, and slowly, _so_ slowly, he recognized them with a sinking feeling. "Sango…" he muttered under his breath as he saw the taijiya lying on the packed earth, unmoving, his mind blank. "Shippo, Kirara…"

He gasped.

He remembered everything.

Bankotsu. Banryuu. The Dragon Thunder. Lightning crashing down from the high heavens, he remembered it all, all at once. That terrible thunder attack had struck him, his friends, the small boy whom they had been lead by...

And someone was missing. Someone very, very important. "Kagome…"

He turned again, looking wildly, desperately for a small figure of green and white and satiny, midnight black. "Kagome?" His voice flew hoarsely through the dark swells of smoke like a firework; crackling and blatantly obvious to anyone listening. He scanned all around him, twisting and turning when suddenly he saw her, and nearly fell over trying to swing his body her way with a breathless gasp. His legs were refusing to move, refusing even to feel anything other than a dull ache that turned into a sharp stabbing if he tried to use them. It was entirely possible that he might have broken them both. " _Kagome_!" he screamed again, that short word tearing at his throat like sandpaper, but now was not the time to worry about that. Not when that dark-haired miko was lying twisted unnaturally upon the ground and unresponsive. Not when he couldn't smell her scent, hear her breathing, make sure she wasn't dead. His voice echoed through dark smoke and across black waters. It was a heartbreaking sound.

His legs refused to move. His left arm was unresponsive and bleeding profusely. So he improvised, dragging himself forward with his uninjured hand, still trying to hold his sword and clawing at the earth, laboriously inching towards the girl with his mind oddly blank with terror. But he was still too weak, his arm shaking and fingers refusing to dig into the moist earth. "Kago- _ghh_!" His strangled cry fell short as he grunted in pain, collapsing flat on his face. Yet still, he tried to move. " _Kagome_!"

His vision was blurry. He could only barely make out the green of that weak girl's uniform. "How… Dare you… Hurt her…" he managed, his throat constricted with emotion. And suddenly, it wasn't the strangely artificial green of the miko's skirt he saw, but bronze toes, grey foot wraps, a pristine white hakama…

"I told you…" said a smooth, relaxed baritone that made an involuntary growl rumble from Inuyasha's chest, hissing out from between his bared fangs as he strained to look up into that boyishly handsome face of the leader of the Band of Seven. He wore a vicious, smug little pointed smirk, his dark eyes narrowed with pleasure. "I can't predict where my Dragon Thunder falls. It's their own fault they jumped in front of the lightning, not mine."

He gave a humorless little chuckle, then stared at the frozen hanyou lying weakly in the dirt before him, his amber eyes burning with ire and unprotected back practically _begging_ for a blade to be twisted in. "Know what? Why don't you just lie there!" said Bankotsu, the amusement in his voice reaching a new level, rising along with his massive, terrible zanbato. "That seems like the proper place for me to cut a half-breed and his sword to pieces!"

With a swift, nimble flick of his wrist, the massive weapon was suddenly spinning in his fingers, chopping and stirring up the wind, summoning those golden cracks of lightning. With a sudden, cold sneer and a short cry of exertion, the dark haired man brought the zanbato's blade crashing down on the silvery head.

The hanyou's scream could be heard across the dark waters to the village.

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Shichinintai - "the band of seven"

Taijiya - a demon slayer; "slayer"

Miko - a Shinto shrine maiden; "priestess"

Hanyou - a half demon/youkai

* * *

A/N A little angst. I swear, there's like one more big Inukag-ish piece and then I'm writing a couple for Sango and Miroku XD

ALSO, I was lazy and decided "let's leave the reader guessing, even if they've already watched the episode". And in case you're wondering, I don't have the chapter number up there because... I didn't use the chapter. This scene was anime-exclusive, and I gotta say I really liked it. I mean, why else is it here, huh?

have fun don't die love yourselves and please leave a review I guess, hahah, wooo..

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Look What You Made Me Do - Chi Kayla  
_


	9. Caves, Arrows, and Poison Tree Roots

**...**

* * *

 **Chapter 413-414** _(English Translation)_

" _Caves, Arrows, and Poison Tree Roots"_

* * *

Standing by the entrance to the cave, it was difficult to hear much over the crashing and splashing of the small but powerful waterfall that ran past it. It was a little easier to talk inside, but not much. Either way, they were hiding for their lives, not sitting around for a chat.

"It's pretty safe here, right?" Shippo asked, staring out across the water, up and above the chink of sky crushed between the top of the cave's mouth and the top of the cliff face across from them. He was pressing close to Kagome's side, tail flicking with worry.

"Yeah," Kagome said distractedly, scanning the sky herself. There was nothing, save the strip of pitch black and diamond stars. "We'll wait out the rest of the night here until Sango-chan and Miroku-sama come back, and…"

It was still night time, probably around five in the morning, but it had already felt like three lifetimes after running for their lives and continuing to run for hours before coming upon this cave. They had been holed up in a tree for at least three hours by a large group of oni before making their way here. New moon nights were almost always dangerous - very rarely had they come across some form of altercation when they came around - and tonight was no exception, not helped along by that creepy Nikosen that had attacked them just as night fell.

"Don't worry…" Kagome looked over her shoulder at an utterly human Inuyasha, huddled against the rough stone wall. For once, he stared straight into her face when she turned to him, and didn't turn away. He always seemed to stare more when he was human, kept her gaze when he was charcoal-eyed and black-haired. He looked shaken and rather ill, gripping the Tetsusaiga with both white-knuckled hands as he spoke again. "If that withered old tree man comes after us, I'll-"

Kagome interrupted him with a loud gasp, her hand flying to her mouth. "Inuyasha… Your neck!"

The startled man's eyes widened a tiny amount, his own hand reaching up to his throat as if searching for something that wasn't there. Only there _was_ something there. "Oh..."

"The Nikosen's roots hurt you," Shippo said softly, leaping past Kagome over to the hanyou-turned-human and peering at the ugly red welts where the flesh had been eaten away by the poison tree resin. Inuyasha blinked and looked down at his feet with a tiny huff. "Is it… Is it painful?"

" _Keh_! _No_ , as _if_."

Kagome sidled up next to him, putting her face up to his and brushing his long black hair away from his neck with her fingers. "Here, let me see it."

Inuyasha just about jumped a mile. " _OW_! WHAT THE _HELL_ ARE YA DOIN', WOMAN?"

"I thought you just said it didn't hurt!" Kagome said defensively, frowning into his indignant face, but not letting go of his hair.

"Not until you _touched_ it, it didn't, _wench_!" he barked. Kagome rolled her eyes. She had brushed his hair away, but she had definitely _not_ touched the wounds.

"I'll be careful, then," she said with a significant look. "I just want to see how bad it is." Inuyasha grumbled a little bit, but settled back down against the cave wall, looking away with a little scowl. The wound seemed like it was bad, the skin peeling and the flesh blistered and red. It looked like a type of burn - though it was probably safe to assume it was youki or jaki rather than a chemical burn or heat of some sort - which trailed around his neck, crawling up his jaw and down his throat, but it wasn't deep or dangerous. She rested her hand on his shoulder, gentle pressure prompting him away from the wall a second time after a moment. He didn't resist much, closing his eyes with a resigned scowl and a little groan that he couldn't quite stifle. Where the poisonous roots had touched him, his robes were eaten clean through, angry blisters and burns crisscrossing across his shoulder blades and lower shoulder just like his neck.

Inuyasha turned towards the fifteen year old girl once again as she rummaged in her monstrous yellow backpack, coming back up with a small tin of medicinal cream he had seen a few times (usually lying on the ground as she rummaged frantically through her possessions for something else entirely). She gave him a questioning look, silently asking for permission. Nodding curtly, he brushed his hair back and tilted his head away, exposing his neck, letting Kagome dip her fingers into the container of cream before very gingerly rubbing it along the livid red wounds.

There was silence for a long time, Kagome gently running her fingers along his throat, his jaw, his shoulder with the cool medicine, Inuyasha hissing a little in pain now and again. His mind was fuzzy both from her tender ministrations (because _gods_ did that feel good) and from the onsetting, all-consuming _exhaustion_ that came along with fighting and staying awake in his human form. But despite those two very distracting factors, neither could completely divert the grim thoughts still running rampant through his mind. Especially the fact that his Fire Rat Robe had once again failed him.

The thing had saved his sorry hide more times than he could count - and his friends', too - but the thing was rather temperamental Sometimes it lost all power during the New Moon, sometimes it didn't. It wasn't a matter of whether Kagome was the one wearing it or not, it all depended on him and his state. Sometimes, he wondered if the gods were just messing with him, taking away its protective power when he needed it most at their every whim. Or maybe it was the vengeful spirit of the Hi Nezumi itself, bent on making him suffer because he wore its fur.

He very nearly laughed, but the sound was too bitter to come out. Kagome, finished with her job, screwed the lid on the little tin of medicine and started to put it back into her bag.

Something rumbled around them.

Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo all leapt to their feet, staring around in a frantic search. Had they unwittingly made their sanctuary in the den of a demon? It was possible.

A few rocks clattered from the roof of the cave, down the sides and onto the stony floor. Then a few more. And then many more. Inuyasha reached for Tetsusaiga and settled into a defensive stance just as a mass of wriggling, sticky roots forced its way through the solid stone ceiling. Kagome shrieked as the hole widened, revealing a huge, mad, veiny eye staring in at them. It chuckled wickedly, working at the hole until the three could see the frozen face of the withered tree hermit. "It's useless to try and hide," it rasped, climbing in through the suddenly sizable entrance it had made for itself. "I can smell you… I can smell your fear, your blood…"

"The Nikosen," Kagome whispered weakly.

"Dammit… How did it find us?" Inuyasha snarled, watching the woody body of the youkai working its way down to them.

Kagome clutched at his arm, unconsciously stepping partially behind him, Shippo cowering behind her legs. His arm was incredibly warm. Hot, even. She gave a tiny gasp. "Inuyasha…" He didn't look at her, but a drop of sweat ran down his flushed red face as he stared at the enemy. She didn't need him to tell her anyway. His skin had been hot as she had applied medicine to his wounds, but she had simply thought that to be inflammation around the injuries. The heat from under his clothes, the flushed face, the weak shivering, the dripping sweat, it all told her that not only had the Nikosen's poisonous tree resin affected his injuries, but his entire body as well. He was running a fever from the poison. Her grip on his arm tightened a moment, her fingernails digging into his skin more that they would have on normal occasions.

Inuyasha cursed quietly under his breath, taking a step back to the opposite wall, sweeping Kagome and Shippo behind him despite being only human. He was gripping Tetsusaiga so hard, it was making his hand hurt. Each of the Nikosen's roots tensed a moment, poised to strike. Inuyasha tensed as well, beginning to draw his old sword, but Kagome beat him to it, nocking an arrow into her bow and taking careful aim. "Stay back, Inuyasha!" she shouted. I have to make it, she thought grimly. Her hand shook a moment, then she released, a bright flash of spiritual power lighting the dark corners of the small cave. Her aim had been perfect; all of a sudden, the Nikosen seemed to have no head

"You hit it!" Shippo cried in relief, staring open-mouthed at the headless youkai

Kagome didn't bother to celebrate quite yet. "Let's get out of here, quick, before it grows another head!" They started to run, Shippo scampering in front, Inuyasha herding them away, when suddenly a previously motionless root shot into the ground just before the kit, making him shriek again. They turned in astonishment to find the body of the Nikosen ambling towards them, slithering out of its entrance and into the cave. Behind them, roots were reaching across the mouth of their cave, closing off the exit like the bars to a cell. "H-how is it moving?" Kagome asked weakly, staring unblinkingly at the still creeping, headless youkai.

" _Heheheh…_ " Kagome looked up sharply. Behind the body of the demon, peeking at them from over its own long back, was…

"It's another new head!" Shippo shrieked.

"It regrew the damn thing before you shot it!" Inuyasha said, looking more angry at the cheap trick than the lack of damage Kagome had done. He glanced over at her as she reached for another arrow over her shoulder, nocking it and taking aim. "Kagome, it ain't getting us anywhere just blowing apart each head!" It was amazing how tactical it seemed he became when he himself couldn't just blow apart the heads of his own enemies, Kagome thought wryly. She knew he just didn't want her to put herself in danger or waste her arrows, but she wasn't an idiot either. She knew what she was doing.

Probably.

 _The Nikosen mentioned something about having a Seimeikan as the source of its life,_ she thought feverishly drawing the arrow back so the bow creaked. _It should be somewhere in its body. If I can just find it…_

She released the arrow. It whistled a moment through the air, glowing with purifying light, crashing against the rough skin of the old tree hermit's body, burning and dissolving demonic flesh until, when the light faded, they could see the single arrow had left a huge, gaping hole in the body of the youkai. And through the hole, they could see a long, faintly glowing white root, running what appeared to be the length of the withered body.

"It's glowing!" Shippo said in wonderment.

"It's the Seimeikan," Kagome said grimly, reaching for another arrow. A flicker of worry made her heart falter a moment as she nocked it and drew the string back to her cheek; _this is… My last arrow…_

She didn't dare look at Inuyasha or Shippo. _I can't miss. I have to destroy it._

She let the arrow fly.

And fly it did. It flew straight and true, burying itself up to the shaft. With nary a sound, the head of the old hermit youkai dropped out of sight. "It worked?" Inuyasha turned to look at Kagome at her incredulous voice, a slow grin spreading across his face. The tentative smile dropped instantly at a low chuckle coming from the Nikosen.

"Why don't you try firing one more arrow?" it asked mockingly, peeking back around its body. It knew… It knew she was out of arrows.

"H-how…?" Kagome's voice was weak as she took a step back, clutching her bow with both hands. "I… I hit it with my sacred arrow! What's going on!"

The Seimeikan glowed brighter, its light still a gentle glow, and the arrow burst into flame before falling to the ground, nothing more than ash and smoke. Inuyasha swept the girl behind him, his hand gripping Tetsusaiga's hilt.

The withered old tree demon chuckled derisively once again, obviously amused by their pitiful attempts to kill him and their reactions to when they failed. They thought they could kill him? They thought they could protect each other from him? "Heh heh… As I've told you, girl," he said into the pretty, dumbfounded face behind the half demon who protected her. "I was a mountain hermit in the past. I was a human! The Seimeikan was grown from his heart, and is protected by his spirit. The arrow of a miko like you won't be able to do much to a holy human aura .

"Now," he continued, shifting his position, but continuing to stare avidly at the three figures. "I'm going to ask you nicely for the last time; please do not be difficult, and just resign yourselves to becoming my next meal. I have to replenish for lost nutrients after those little stunts you pulled."

Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo whirled around at a loud creak. Roots were pushing themselves up out of the ground, creeping towards them. Before Kagome could take a breath, Inuyasha had taken her hand in his and jerked her forward, shoving Shippo roughly into her arms and half leading, half pushing her towards the mouth of the cave.

All hell broke loose around them, in all of its woody, sappy, twisting, turning, reaching, pulling, tangled glory. They ducked and swerved, Inuaysha's arm around her shoulder yanking her out of harm's way, jerking her here and there with an almost inhuman speed. A root shot out at Kagome's face, but before it could reach her, Inuyasha had grabbed it and thrown it away.

She cried out; the tree's resin was already eating away at his flesh, bubbling and sizzling sickeningly. Aside from a hiss of pain through his teeth, however, he didn't seem to even acknowledge it. Instead, he wrapped one arm around her shoulder and draped his sleeve over her head, in a hug that covered her body and Shippo in her arms in the inadequate protection of the Fire Rat, still pushing her forward. Like sharks smelling blood on the water, the roots doubled their frenzied dancing, lashing out at him with renewed vigor, eating away at his body. He made a noise somewhere between a very human growl and a groan as a hundred roots attacked him, trying to find purchase around his arms, his neck, anywhere.

A root wrapped itself around his ankle, bubbling and painful and effectively dashing any idea that he would have been able to make it out. _Damn it_ … _I'm sorry, Kagome..._

His leash coming to a sudden end, he jerked to a halt and shoved Kagome and Shippo out of the open entrance of the cave with all the strength he possessed. His action sent them stumbling out into the cool, dark, free night air, and toppling over the fine edge of the cave, down into the ravine.

Kagome gasped, then screamed as the air rushed past, plunging down, down, down towards the crashing, tumultuous waters. Shippo, transforming, caught her and rose back up, just in time to see Inuyasha being dragged back into the cave by a root wrapped around his ankle, back into the reach of the Nikosen. " _SHIPPO_!" he screamed, voice grating as he clawed pointlessly at the ground, trying to escape the grip of the youkai slowly reeling him in. He caught there gazes, red-faced and covered in bubbling, flesh-eating wounds and roots. " _PLEASE_! PLEASE, TAKE CARE OF KAGOME!"

" _INUYASHA-AAAA_!" Shippo was floating vaguely away, tears in his eyes, but not nearly as many as were in Kagome's eyes as she wailed the half demon's name.

"Heh heh… That girl won't escape," said the raspy voice of the old hermit demon, peeking out from its mass of wriggling roots. Those roots exploded from the cave mouth, past the agonized, black-haired man, towards the girl and round pink demon. There was no possible way they could have escaped.

" _HIRAIKOTSU_!"

Like a holy beam of life or a disc of flying death, Sango's great bone boomerang came flying into view, cutting each and every one of those poisonous roots so they fell into the volatile waters below. Kagome would have been relieved, had a certain man been by her side. But he wasn't. "Sango..." she breathed, turning to look over her shoulder

The huge weapon doubled back on its previous flight path, caught deftly by the slim hand of Kagome's friend. Her pretty face was screwed up with concern and barely contained fury. The surprising thing was that Sango rarely wore that incensed expression unless Miroku was being a lecher. However, despite the two of them sitting in very close proximity, the monk's hands were well to himself for once, clutching his shakujo staff and looking around seriously from where he was on Kirara's back. Something must have happened while she was away with him. Something that had _not_ made her happy. "Kagome-chan!" Sango called, prompting Kirara to fly up to the younger girl.

"Sango! Miroku-sama!" Kagome called back, gaze darting from her friends to the cave mouth. "Inuyasha… Inuyasha is-!"

The roots in the cave gave a particularly violent lurch, catching their attention. From inside, they could hear a muffled scream. "Inuyasha's in there?" Miroku shouted incredulously, her handsome face stricken. Kagome didn't pay him any mind, leaning as far forward as she could while sitting atop of Shippo and screaming the half demon's name for all she was worth. Tears were beginning to run down her cheeks. Had she been in the position to do so, Sango would have run to her younger friend and hugged her before hurling the Hiraikotsu at the demon eating the man her best friend loved. Unfortunately, she was not in that position, and had to settle for readying her boomerang again for another attack.

"The Nikosen is gonna eat Inuyasha for the nutrients!" Shippo called to the monk and the taijiya. There was a huge movement from the mass of wriggling, writhing roots, and they all gasped. The Nikosen had popped its woody, gaunt head out of the soup of demonic appendages and was staring at them gloatingly. And close beside it, in a small cavity it had made, they could just barely see a glimpse of red cloth, a few long locks of jet black hair, and a face. Inuyasha's head was dangling limply from his shoulders, hanging from the demonic roots covered in bubbling, sizzling, flesh-eating resin.

"Oh, I'm sorry," cackled the Nikosen, allowing its roots to slide alongside the hanyou's cheek, leaving a trail of resin in its wake that immediately began to eat away at the hanyou's skin. His face twitched violently, but he made no noise or did anything to suggest he had noticed the poison. Obviously he had lost consciousness, blacked out from pain. At least, they hoped he had just passed out, and he wasn't... "You lot weren't here to save him, were you?" The Nikosen chuckled evilly. "It's too late for him… I've already begun to soak up his energy."

The roots shut over what little of Inuyasha they could see. A solemn, decisive close. Kagome screamed again, reaching for arrows that weren't there. Miroku and Sango cried out in alarm. For several long seconds, the roots simply moved over the lump where they knew their friend was being eaten alive, live snakes - always moving. But then suddenly, wind was whistling loudly past the gaps, the mass was lurching to and fro, and all at once, Inuyasha leapt forth; white-haired, golden-eyed, half demon Inuyasha wielding his great demon sword, sporting several half healed and healing wounds and a wild, furious expression as he hollered, "YOU'RE DONE, YOU DAMN CREEP!"

The night of the new moon had ended at last, and he brought the Tetsusaiga crashing down on the Seimeikan.

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Oni - an ogre/youkai

Nikosen - an youkai born of an old hermit who absorbed the lives of trees

Hanyou - a half demon/youkai

Youki - demonic power

Jaki - demonic power, typically dark demonic power

Hi Nezumi - "fire rat"

Youkai - a demon/spirit

Seimeikan - a youki infused root that helped protect the Nikosen; "life root"

Miko - a Shinto shrine maiden; "priestess"

Taijiya - a demon slayer; "slayer"

* * *

A/N This is another scene that was ignored in The Final Act, and it's a crying shame as well. So this chapter is based off of only a couple of chapters, BUT I HEAVILY modified it; timing was all screwy (Inuyasha went from hanyou to human to hanyou again in the span of less than two chapters?) so I messed with that, and I highly doubt that Kagome would have let Inuyasha stay with injuries for very long, especially when they were relatively safe and he was a human. So there's that. MAN THIS one was so much fun to write, bwahahahahahh

oKAY, I SWEAR I'VE GOT SANGO AND MIROKU STUFF COMING UP NEXT, now I just gotta write it, hahahhh

As ever have fun don't die love yourselves don't to vegetables eat your school and stay in drugs. I'ma just *points vaguely off screen and leaves* oH and please leave a review. Fun Fact: I like getting constructive criticism and critique, and I love hearing what you guys thing, okay byee lolz

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Nancy Mulligan - Ed Sheeran  
_


	10. School-Girl Crush

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 78** (English Sub, English Dub)

" _School-Girl Crush"_

* * *

The lone, terrified cry of "youkai!" shattered the relative silence of the blue night. It was something almost impossible to miss; it caught the attention of miserable feeling mikos and snoring half demons, of melancholy monks and of off-guard demon slayers. And indeed, the cry was not without reason. Standing in the center of the mansion yard was a monsterous youkai, with rolling red eyes and a gaping, drooling maw filled with sharp and yellowed teeth. It towered above the tallest point of the mansion, feral and growling and absolutely terrifying.

Well, it was terrifying if you weren't a hot-headed inu-hanyou. "Took ya long enough!" Inuyasha barked, unsheathing his Tetsusaiga with a flourish and a grin. It had been a couple days too many since he'd last had a good fight, and even with the prospect of Kagome's purifying arrows, he hoped that this would be his opportunity to get one.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku called, thundering up the muddy dirt road to the miko and the hanyou, his staff jingling and jangling. Sango was hot on his heels, already dressed in her armor and hefting the Hiraikotsu. Inuyasha spared them a glance over his shoulder.

"'Bout time you showed up," he said, his tone totally different from only a few seconds before as Sango and Miroku came to a squelching halt close by him. "You're late!" Neither of them answered, dipping down into their offensive stances. The half demon rolled his eyes. "Whatever. It don't matter; it'll all be over with just a swing of my sword."

He almost did raise the sword too, but then Sango leapt in his way. "No! Stay out of the way and let me handle it!" she said harshly. Everyone looked at her, bewildered.

"What? Why! What's your problem?" Inuyasha asked, his brow furrowed as he expressed each of their questions in quick succession. "I can handle this small fry on my own!"

"Killing this thing is _my_ job," she answered cooly, not looking back at any of the inutachi behind her. It was scary enough to hear her voice so cold, and doubly so when she lowered her voice a pitch or so and added, " _Besides_ , I'm in a _real_ bad mood right now. I wouldn't mind blowing off a little steam."

There wasn't really anything there Inuyasha knew; it wasn't like a fire could start in this miserably, soggy, drizzly weather, but he could have sworn a few sparks hand flown out of her ears, if not an entire furious inferno engulfing her feminine frame. It was probably this and his overactive imagination which made him lower his sword squeak out an agreeal. Kagome whipped around, brown eyes sharp as she turned on Miroku. "Miroku!" He flinched terribly, clenching his staff as though he hoped it to protect him from his friend's wrath. "Did you _say_ something to her?"

"What? No, nothing in particular," he stammered weakly, truly as bemused by Sango's actions as Inuyasha was of Kagome's desire to go to her world and take her "exams". Kagome turned back to her friend in mild alarm, worry flooding her stomach. This demon was _huge_. She wouldn't have been worried about Inuyasha taking it on, but Sango was only human, and a young human woman at that.

Her worries were wasted, however. Sango looked like she was going to be just fine. How did any of them know that, when she was simply standing before her enemy with her massive bone boomerang in hand? Perhaps it was the way she was standing perfectly still, on her toes with her body half lowered to the ground. Or perhaps it was the way she - so unlike her dog-eared companion - was letting the enemy attack first so she could better retaliate. Or perhaps it was the fact that, conversely similar to said companion, there was a wide, determined smirk spread across her lips.

The huge grey demon lunged. As though a switch had been flipped, Sango bounded away, straight for the demon. A scream tore from her throat as she ran. The youkai made a swipe for the comparatively small black and rose figure, but Sango knocked it back with the Hiraikotsu. The clawed hand was pulled back up to the feral, demonic face, the other paw coming down hard on the taijiya in a vicious counter strike.

With hardly a second's thought, Sango slammed her boomerang into the earth, planting it as a firm shield against the mighty blow that came a heartbeat later. At this point, most would most likely have to pause and think after losing their only effective weapon to becoming a shield. However, Sango hadn't been one of the best youkai taijiya in her village - not to mention one of the only women fighters - for no reason. Rather, she leapt into the air with another bellow, spun around, and kicked the huge youkai with such force, she knocked it solidly onto the ground.

She allowed herself a moment to wipe her sweaty brow before wrenching the Hiraikotsu from the ground and returning to the thrashing of the demon.

"Boy," Shippo whimpered from Inuyasha's shoulder, looking fascinated and absolutely terrified, "I've never seen Sango looking so scary before!"

The hanyou blinked, his jaw hanging slack as he watched the human woman pummel a youkai twenty times her size with absurd ease. He couldn't tell whether to be awed, annoyed, or scared, and had settled on a sort of faraway concern. "Yeah, uh, I don't think there's a person in the world who could take her on just now and not end up dead."

Miroku was standing, petrified, a nerve in his eyelid twitching. Beside him, Kagome folded her arms and closed her eyes, a little frown on her face. "Don't come crying to me," she said loftily, sentencing the lecherous monk to his inevitable fate. She was well aware of her friend's strength and did not envy the dark-haired man's destiny in the slightest. He whimpered.

The fight had only lasted about five minutes at the most, but Sango had already sensed defeat in the gigantic youkai. She kicked off against it's stony chest, flying into the air and raising the great bone boomerang. _This is the final blow_. The thought came with a sort of savage satisfaction that left a ferocious smirk on her face. "HIRAIKOTSU!"

A blinding golden light, an unearthly roar, and the demon crashed to the ground, dead. Like a dancer, Sango thrust out a hip and dipped her chin, raising her hand for a weapon which returned to it like a loyal dog. She slung it across her back with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Nice job, Sango-chan!" Sango raised her head and smiled at Kagome. She chuckled under her breath, opened her eyes, and started forward. That fight, no matter how short or how unchallenging it had been, had done her a world of good. As a matter of fact, she really couldn't quite recall why she had been angry with Miroku in the first place.

There were many loud gasps that made her look up in mild surprise. Then, the great wave of malicious jaki broke over her back like a wave. Heart sinking, the youkai taijiya turned her head just in time to see the towering form of the undead demon, burning with the fluorescent light of demonic youki before it swung at her head.

Blood, dark red like a precious jewel or a young flower, spattered the earth. The Hiraikotsu tumbled from her grip onto the ground with a loud clatter.

So why wasn't she dead?

Something warm was pressed up against her, but she couldn't see. Her eyes had shut tightly at the sight of silvery death, like three swords bearing down on her head. Was the wind against her face her soul flying speedily towards the afterlife? Was the whistling and soft beating in her ears the sounds of wind and hearts? Perhaps it would just be simpler to open her eyes and figure it out?

She did.

It was… Miroku. Miroku's face was above her, jaw set and brow furrowed with a curious determination. His dark hair was whipping around his face as they flew through the air, which she realized was happening a moment later. He looked, to her numb mind… Rather dashing, honestly.

He landed with a grunt, several feet away from where the demon's claws were still hovering, its entire body shimmering with jaki. Sango watched in mild surprise as his expression faltered into one of pain, her head bowing over her stomach as he held her. His arm around her shoulders was shaking, and something wet was seeping through her uniform. Uncomfortable with the undignified position as much as anything, she scrambled out of his arms and onto her knees beside him, where he clutched at his upper arm. "Houshi-sama," she started, resting her hand where his was as well. She didn't know whether to be grateful or annoyed or scared. The monk shook his head, opening his eyes.

They rose together, Sango's hand falling to her side. It felt unnaturally cold as the wind passed it, and the raised it to her face. Just through the gloomy darkness of the rainy night sky, slow burning torches, and the full moon above their heads, she could see something dark and wet against her hand. Her fingers were slick. She gasped, looking back to the monk's arm. From under his hand, she could see where his robes had torn, blood flowing sluggishly from under his fingers. Her gaze traveled upwards, where she could see him giving her a sidelong smirk. It was more of an apologetic thing than anything.

"You miscalculated, Sango," he smiled, not unkindly. He looked back to the demon, a drop of sweat tracing its way down his face to his chin. "I only realized after watching you fight, though. This youkai is actually a vengeful spirit." She whipped around to look at the massive creature, its form wavering with malicious youki. "It cannot be destroyed the usual way.

It lunged, not even minding that its two attackers were trying to have a conversation, yellowed teeth glistening, three red eyes glowing with unholy fire. Sango drew her wakizashi, crouching and baring her teeth in a very human snarl. Inuyasha had influenced her in some very odd ways it seemed. Beside her, Miroku drew an ofuda from inside his robes.

"Evil spirit exorcism is the only way to go, my dear Sango," he said. "Sorry." He hurled the small paper prayer, where it fixed itself on the head of the spirit. It roared, shaking the earth with its volume, great for shimmering, then wavering, then dissolving as though it were flame without fuel, disappearing entirely with a rush of heated wind. Miroku raised his hand in a silent prayed.

Without conscious thought, Sango sideled a step closer to the lecherous monk, watching the spot here the demon had been (she could now see Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo where they stood), and then glancing at the monk's wounds. Blood was continuing to flow from the shallow, jagged cut. Acting on impulse rather than thinking and psyching herself out, she slowly, so slowly, lowered her head until her brow rested on the sturdy, warm shoulder.

Her heart flooded with something… Indescribable. It was something like relief, something like annoyance. It was something sad, and something almost like…

No. No, no, no.

And yet, she couldn't stop a feeling like that. And in that moment, she resigned herself to a fate she never thought would come.

She glanced up to see Kagome running towards them, followed closely by Inuyasha who carried Shippo and Kirara on his shoulders. The sight of her dark haired friend reminded her of something. Kagome had words from her time that truly could describe things like nothing else could. And this time? "School girl crush" came to mind.

"Thank you, Miroku...:"

"Always, Sango."

She missed the tiny smile on his face.

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Youkai - a demon/spirit

Hanyou - a half demon/youkai

Miko - a Shinto shrine maiden; "priestess"

Inutachi - the group of Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo; often translated to "Inuyasha and co." in the manga

Taijiya - a youkai exterminator; "slayer"

Jaki - demonic aura, usually with an evil connotation

Youki - demonic aura

Houshi-sama - a respectful name for a Buddhist monk, this is what Sango most often calls Miroku rather than by name

Wakizashi - a short blade, often mistaken for a katana

Ofuda - a Shinto paper tag, prayer, or talisman

* * *

A/N OH MY GOSH, why was this so difficult to write? I feel it's very, very... Sub-par. I apologize. Maybe it's that I don't write Sango and Miroku's characters very often? I need to... They're freaking awesome and they need more love. Or maybe it's to do with the writer's block that's been plaguing me for ages? I've been trying to sit down and write all the plot out for that gang au story I'm working on, but I'm missing some crucial elements. While I was doing that, I did come up with a shorter story that should hopefully break hearts? I'm gonna work on that first.

I hate being addicted to art and writing.

oKAY HAVE FUN DON'T DIE, REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE, REVIEWS ARE LOVE OKAY BYYYYEEEEE! (go read Daughter of the Lilies! gO! NOW!)

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Everybody Talks - Neon Trees  
_


	11. Mist of Sages

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 138** (English Sub, English Dub)

" _Mist of Sages"_

* * *

"Everyone listen to me! _Do not inhale the mist_! This is the work of the demon. I don't know what it is, exactly, but it makes you intoxicated, so _do not inhale it_!"

"Think you're a little _late_ there, Miroku, they're _already_ three sheets to the wind!"

Despite the volume of Kagome, Kagome, and Kagome (the latter of whom were actually Shippo and Hachi), Miroku heard his half demon companion without any difficulty. He gave him a sidelong glance; Inuyasha couldn't see the expression he was making as his face was covered by his billowing black sleeve, but he could tell the monk was annoyed. "Well I was _referring_ to the _rest_ of us, thank you," he snapped. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Alright, time for another song!" Kagome whooped. Inuyasha and Miroku both turned to the very, very drunk fifteen year old. Her face was flushed with alcohol, and there was a wild, almost furious ecstasy on her face as she raised her strange pink future contraption. Kagome number two and Kagome number three (Hachi and Shippo) threw themselves on the actual Kagome, grinning like fools as well and laughing like idiots and cheering.

"H- _hey_! Chill out, you three!" Inuyasha shouted over the chants of "jewel shards, jewel shards, we're looking for jewel shards!", sounding more bewildered than he did commanding. Miroku could see the way his ears flicked back and forth, one cocked this way and the other that in his utter confusion. His sword was dangling uselessly at his side.

Kagome (the real one) glowered at him and began a new chant, slurring terribly. "Inuyasha's a big _jerk_ -head! Inuyasha's a big meanie an' he's always runnin' off to stupid Kikyo an' making me _cry_!"

"Oi, give it a rest!" Inuyasha had to shout to be heard as Shippo and Hachi redoubled their continuing chant. It was amazing that any of them could hear the shrill titter that exploded from the mist behind them, but they did. Everyone quieted and stared.

"S… Sango?" Miroku asked hesitantly. Sango wandered tipsily over to them, her steps slow and deliberate, but very unsteady. She brushed past Miroku, swayed a moment, then threw herself on the frozen half-demon who looked like he were being presented with a thousand horrifying and harmless terrors. He staggered as her weight hit him unexpectedly.

"Inuyasha!" she slurred, half screaming into his ear.

"S-Sango! What're you doing?" Inuyasha stammered, frozen in an awkward position with Sango rubbing her face in his neck and her arms around his middle.

"Fer _get_ about them, le'ss get _outta_ here," she sighed dramatically.

"G-get _outta_ here? The _hell_ you talking about?" Inuyasha squeaked, his voice rising to an undignified pitch as Sango rubbed her entire body against him, running her hands slowly and seductively from his stomach up his chest and around his neck. A nerve in his brow twitched. Dammit, he didn't even know what to do with this _own_ hands, holding them out to the sides like an idiot and standing still like he was petrified. Which he kind of was.. Just how drunk off this stupid fog _was_ she? Oh _gods_ help him, he prayed to whatever kami would listen to a hanyou that she _was_ just drunk.

"I'm _sssso_ _sick_ of thad two-timing _perv_ ," she slurred. Miroku's eye twitched as well, a curiously shocked and disbelieving smile on his face. "And Kagome's all… _Woooooah_ , three Kagome's are _definitely_ a crowd… Le'ss _leave_ 'em too." The three Kagome's looked just as bamboozled as Miroku, though the one still holding the pink thing to her mouth had narrowed her eyes, like she were trying to figure something out.

Sango hadn't stopped rubbing herself against the flustered hanyou, heard the undignified whimpers and squeaks he was making, or seen the hurt and horrified and somewhat _jealous_ expression on the monk's face. "C'mon, let's _gooo_! Le'ss go 'n' defeat Naraku." She turned to look at the half demon, vision blurry and mouth slack. "O _kaaaaaay_?"

Horrified, heart beating a mile a minute, Inuyasha's knees started to bend in his desperate efforts to escape Sango. She was leaning forward with her lips pursed, humming in a terrible, drunken attempt at seductiveness. She was too close. _Way_ too close. Against his will, Inuyasha whimpered again and shut his eyes tightly. Miroku watched, frozen, his face falling with his stomach.

Something in Kagome's mind seemed to click the moment that she registered that Sango and Inuyasha were about to kiss. However, she didn't exactly seem to understand who was trying to do what. So, with the best drunken logic she could muster, she jumped to a conclusion that made her immediately jealous. " _OSUWARI-III_!"

Rather than kissing Sango, Inuyasha ended up kissing dirt. Another unflattering noise escaped him, as had one escaped Miroku just before. The monk watched, dumbfounded, as Kagome marched up to the struggling hanyou, planted her feet firmly by his side, and began to scream into her contraption. " _Osuwari, osuwari, osuwari, osuwari, osuwari, osuwari, osu-!_ "

Sango was crying.

The fact caught Shippo's attention first, and he said so out loud. "L-look! Now the poor girl's crying!"

Miroku heard that, over Kagome's repeated screams and Inuyasha's constant grunts and yelps as the Beads worked their unfortunate magic. Turning around sharply, he watched with a small gasp as Sango collapsed onto her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. In the relative silence of the stone valley, it rang, bouncing off the sides of the mountain in a heartbreaking requiem that tugged at his soul in an odd, discomforting way. Her crying was one of the loudest things around him.

"Now that stupid monk who made her cry is going to console her," Shipoo narrated, watching as Miroku stepped forward and kneeled down in front of the slayer, offering her a kind and tentative hand.

She looked up, her eyes red and face blotchy. "Houshi-sama…"

Without warning, she exploded. "MIROKU, WHY YOU FLIRTING _CHEAT_!" she screamed, not only using his actual name for once, but reaching for her great bone boomerang as well, brows pinched in fury. It was Miroku's turn to make an indistinct sound of alarm.

"Now she's hoppin' mad!" Shippo cried, watching in amazement.

"Go! Go!" Hachi cheered in high excitement, entertained more than worried.

" _HIRAIKOTSU_!"

He almost didn't make it, bending in half just fast enough that the weapon when whistling over his head rather than having it cleaved off his shoulders. He stumbled back, pressing his sleeve to his face once again. "Gods, is this what the demon was planning?" he murmured quietly. His head was beginning to spin. "To intoxicate us with his demonic power and destroy each other?" He couldn't think straight. Nothing made sense. He needed to get rid of the mist. A bright idea suddenly struck him. "Inuyasha!" he called urgently. "Scatter the mist with the Kaze no Kizu!"

" _L-look. Be. Fore. You. Sp-speak. I'm. A._ Li _._ Tle _. Bui. Sy. Here. St-stu. P-pid._ " Miroku heard the half demon's muffled voice just over Kagome's miserable and suddenly sleepy refrain of "osuwari". He was still continually being slammed into the earth over and over and over again.

"Oh. Sssorry." He reeled a little, staring into the mist. At this rate, he was going to pass out like Sango and Kagome were about to. He couldn't allow that. Reluctantly, he reached for the prayer beads covering his right hand. "I have no choice," he said thickly, resigned. "It's shameful to fear being poisoned." He set his jaw and yanked the beads off his hand, raising it into the air. "One must drink sake! Not get drunk off of it! KAZAANA!"

And before any of them knew it, they were standing in brilliant starlight.

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Kami - gods or apparitions

Hanyou - a half demon/youkai

Osuwari - the 'sit' command specific for a dog

Houshi - a Buddhist monk

Kaze no Kizu - "wind scar"

Sake - rice wine

Kazaana - the black hole in Miroku's right hand; "wind tunnel"

* * *

A/N My biggest issue with this scene is that, if we're being honest, it could never happen. Why, you may ask? My answer is simple. Have we all forgotten that Inuyasha is a lightweight? He probably would have been the first one to get drunk, right after Kagome XD But nNNNOOooOOooo, in this he's got some sort of tolerance. Hachi's a demon, so the "Inuyasha's got demon blood" argument won't work, and Hachi's also a casual drinker! He's actually got tolerance to alcohol! Inuyasha doesn't so why isn't he wasted like the others? I HAVE SO MANY ISSUES, I JUST RUINED A FUNNY SCENE FOR MYSELF, WHY?

Also, we as watchers had funny music to listen to with this scene. The characters? No. This was a silent, muffled area, filled only with their own screaming and sobbing. It's unnerving to think.

Yes, I got too lazy to finish the scene. My only defense is that these are just fun little snippits. I don't have to tell the whole story coz you can watch it or read it for yourself.

(Also, it's my birthday :V)

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Ghost Assassin - Maduk  
_


	12. A Silent 'Okay'

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 38** _(English Sub, English Dub)_

 **Chapter 140** _(English Translation)_

 _A Silent 'Okay'_

* * *

He sighed. How many times had he sighed in only the past few minutes? He didn't know. All he knew was that, despite his anger, the overwhelming feeling of vague melancholy overpowered it. Honestly, he didn't quite even know why he felt so miserable and sad. He wasn't hungry. He hadn't exactly lost a fight. He didn't feel ill - maybe a little sick to his stomach (another puzzling thing), but not unwell. He was just… Sort of empty. On the inside. Like _something_ was missing. But what was that _something_? Either way, he was too discouraged to poke around his hollow insides and find out.

A sudden familiar scent hit his nose, carried to him on a slight breeze, and his whole body twitched. Straightening his back, he froze, eyes clear and wide. _No…_ She couldn't have come back. She'd been hopping mad the last time they talked, and she'd sat him in her sleep the last time he saw her. He flicked an ear back, listening. And there were footsteps. And her scent was still there. In utter disbelief and no small amount of that strange, inexplicable _something_ flooding back into his stomach. "K-Kagome?"

Kagome cocked her head and smiled sweetly at him, giggling. "Hey. I decided it was about time to come back." She stepped over to the stunned inu-hanyou and plopped down on the grass beside him, pulling her knees to her chest. She turned and smiled at him again. She knew Inuyasha well enough to know that he wasn't ever going to be the first to apologize, especially when she really was sort of in the wrong for defending her kidnapper rather than her friend. And their friendship really wasn't worth such a stupid thing as an apology either. "So, Inuyasha, I-"

"I'm sorry. It's my fault." Kagome's jaw dropped, looking taken aback. "What's with that face?" he asked, looking suddenly panicked, then defeated. He sighed. "You seriously still mad? I said 'sorry' already, _jeeze_."

"No, I'm not angry. Not anymore, at least," she said haltingly, just as dazed as Inuyasha had been a moment before. Actually, she was just a little scared, too; she had to physically stop herself from reaching forward and pressing her hand to his forehead to make sure he wasn't sick. Inuyasha? Apologizing? Had hell had a cold snap that morning or something?

"Are you sure? I feel pretty bad about it."

"Yeah, it's okay, I promise."

"No, I don't think you understand," he pulled something out of his shirt. It clinked rather loudly. "It really is my fault."

Kagome stared hard at the mutilated mass of twisted metal and shattered plastic. It was her missing alarm clock, broken beyond repair. Gingerly, Inuyasha set it into her hands. "You're apologizing…" Kagome said slowly and clearly, staring hard at the mangled remains of the clock, at its many shattered and minuscule pieces and parts, "Because of the alarm clock?"

Inuyasha looked away, frowning sulkily. "I ain't got nothing else to apologize for, do I?" he grumbled.

Kagome rose, dropping the broken remains of her alarm clock and positively fuming. Of all the rude, bull-headed, antagonistic things to say! Of course it was just like him to not feel even the slightest bit apologetic for making her upset! She couldn't even formulate words. "Why you-!"

From the bushes suddenly leapt Miroku, Sango, and Shippo, each of them calling her name. Shippo scampered forward, wrapping his little arms around her ankle, Miroku and Sango running and physically restraining her from hitting the hanyou. He hadn't moved a muscle. "Please, calm down! He's trying his best to apologize!" Miroku pleaded, holding Kagome left hand from hitting the rude half demon. Said half demon looked up suddenly, eyes wide with realization.

"What are you guys doing!" he said loudly, looking between the monk, taijiya, and schoolgirl. Something like trepidation crossed his features. "How long've you guys been watching us?"

Save the schoolgirl, who was glaring murderously at him out of smoldering brown eyes, they all ignored him. "Inuyasha really does feel sorry!" Shippo said pleadingly, still hugging Kagome's ankle.

"He really is," Sango agreed, looking to Inuyasha. "He actually went to go get you twice! And since you've been gone all he's done is mope around and sigh."

Inuyasha squeaked, balling his hands into fists and resting them on his knees, elbows out and glaring at Sango. But the damage was done. Kagome stopped struggling, her eyes suddenly wide with dawning comprehension. "He went to get me twice?" she asked faintly, staring at the suddenly tense half demon. He spluttered, trying to cut them all off from talking.

"'Nuff already! Give me a break!" he managed, rising to his feet and looking angry and defensive. "And how'd you guys know I went to get her! Can't a guy get a little privacy or something', ya creeps?"

Sango and Miroku looked sheepish. "Well…" Sango started, then decided better. "Just relax,please?"

"Look, what's important is she came back, so just swallow your pride for once and apologize nicely, please?" Miroku said imploringly, smiling.

Inuyasha was shaking with rage, raising his fists and brandishing his claws. " _SHADDAP_!"

Sango, Miroku, and Shippo knew when to run. Kagome watched in utter befuddlement as her three friends were chased by a furious, screaming hanyou.

"We're sorry, Inuyasha!"

"Forgive us, please!"

"NO! NEVER!"

"We were only trying to hel-"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"Why are you so mad, she would have sat you had we not intervened!"

"SHUT UP!"

"We really are sorry!"

"Please stop!"

"We were just worried!"

"IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS WHAT I DO! STAY OUTTA MY LIFE, YOU IDIOTS!"

"We didn't want you to-"

"I swear, when I get my hands on you I'm gonna-"

"Ye must forgive him!" Kagome whirled around at this new voice to see old Kaede walking up the hill to her. She was smiling at her, then looked amusedly at the four running figures. "He truly has been very depressed since ye left. He's so excited now. He is just happy that ye have come back to him."

Kagome looked at her friends as well, tripping over themselves and screaming indiscriminately in terror.

"We're sorry, though!"

"GET BACK HERE!"

"I think this calls for the Kazaana!"

"JUST YOU _TRY_ TO SUCK ME IN!"

Inuyasha leapt into the air just as Miroku tripped, falling to the ground and knocking Sango and Shippo over as well. Including Inuyasha, they were all screaming. Without really realizing it, Kagome grinned and laughed.

It was a few hours later that she found him sitting on the hillside again, facing the valley. Sunlight reflected on the rice paddies and streaming silver river. It truly was a beautiful sight, one of her absolute favorites here in the Sengoku Jidai. She walked softly, but judging by the way one ear flicked back to her, Inuyasha knew she was there. Without preamble, she walked beside him and sat down, scooting closer until she was pressed flush against his side, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Let me stay beside you," she sighed softly.

" _Bah_." He looked like he was annoyed, but the way that he very slowly, very tentatively leaned against her a moment later told her otherwise.

She took it as a silent 'okay'.

He meant it to be a silent 'please'.

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Hanyou - a half demon/youkai

Taijiya - a demon exterminator; "slayer"

Kazaana - the black hole in Miroku's right hand; "wind tunnel"

Sengoku Jidai - the Japanese feuding states era

* * *

A/N For whatever reason I was reading the manga again (Akatsuki no Yona still hasn't updated, hnnnnnnng whyyyyyy). My favorite episode in the entire anime is, I do believe, episode 140, and so for whatever reason my sleep-deprived brain decided to see what chapter 140 was like. I forgot about it XD I was originally just going to use the manga as the reference, but I wanted angry Kagome, so I ended up using the anime as well. She doesn't get angry in the manga. However, the anime doesn't have the "let me stay with you" thing, so I added that too. And because I'm a sucker, I added another little ending. Help.

Also, it's my birthday :V

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Walking the Wire - Imagine Dragons_


	13. Selfless Forgiveness

...

* * *

 **Episode 126** _(English Sub)_

 **Chapter 285** (English _Translation)_

 _"Selfless Forgiveness"_

 _..._

* * *

He'd been sitting here for a long time by now, watching over her. Her pitch black hair was tucked neatly under her neck, a few strands fanning out on the grassy bed she lay on. Her face was calm and expressionless as she slept. He reached forward and brushed a lock away. She flinched. "Kagome," he said, his voice heavy with an odd mixture of concern and relief. She turned to him, her pretty, dark eyes wide and flitting between both his own. For a moment, he was absolutely terrified that for some reason she couldn't recognize him.

The moment passed as she smiled sweetly, her expression turning to something far softer than what he was used to seeing when she looked at him. "I see… So you did come for me after all… That's right." She lay still on the grass for a moment longer, then started to sit up with a little groan.

Like the guard dog he was - especially just now, after watching her suffer so much for his bone-headed mistakes - that little sound flipped all the " _protect Kagome_ " switches he had. "Don't sit up," he said, trying to push the dark-haired girl back down onto her makeshift bed. "You're hurt. Just lay down."

"I'm fine," she said. She was indeed fine, if a little tired.

"Take it easy," he tried again, his hand sliding down from her shoulder to her arm and lingering there.

"I'll be fine," Kagome repeated. She sighed a little through her nose, planting her hands firmly in the grass behind her and stretching before looking back at him with another little smile. There was a long silence where neither of them spoke, not knowing what exactly to say. But the guilt that was eating him from the inside out wasn't going to let Inuyasha stay silent for long, and both of them knew it.

"Kagome, I'm really sorry that happened," he burst out at last, staring at his hands, gripping his feet tightly beside Kagome's thigh. His dark brow was furrowed. "I wasn't with you, and then-"

"It's okay, Inuyasha, I promise," Kagome interrupted softly. "Really."

Her words were gentle and kind, in the true Kagome fashion that she was known for. A selfless forgiveness that could leave a person feeling warm and fuzzy or absolutely terrified, like no matter what terrible thing one could do to her, she would always say it was okay. Right now, all Inuyasha could feel was the latter.

"It is _not_ okay," he burst out suddenly, almost angry with her forgiving nature. He deserved worse, he _wanted_ worse. He wanted her to get angry with him, to 'sit' him, to punish him for what he'd done, because _he felt terrible_. "I was a stupid idiot, and I ended up letting you fall into harm's way.8" He deflated a little bit as he watched her unchanging expression. Looking at her pretty, clam face, a chilling thought ran once again through his head as he realized something for perhaps the twelfth time in the past hour; if he had waited only a few minutes longer…. If he had not been able to make it to her in time Kagome would have most likely… He would have _lost_ her. One of the only women in the world he cared about more than he did his own life, he would have lost her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome glanced at him, then turned to face him full on. Her smile had taken on a rueful air. "Well… If you hear news of Kikyo's whereabouts… You'll go off looking for her again, won't you?" It wasn't a question.

A curl of self-disgust rose up like bile in his throat as he watched her expression. She was smiling still at him, but her eyes were sad and - worst of all - seemingly resigned. Of _everything_ he wanted, he didn't want Kagome to feel how he thought she did, just as much as he hadn't wanted Kikyo to be in pain. "NO I _WON'T_!" His voice came out louder than he'd meant it to, and he'd gotten very, very close to her face. Perhaps that had been a mistake but it was too late now, and in his blind passion, he didn't exactly care, either. "I will never _, ever_ leave your side _again_ , Kagome!"

His statement was bold, and he felt he meant it, but her eyelids dropped till her eyes were only half open. "You're a liar."

He stiffened. "Wha-... I am _not_!" he bleated, more than a little offended.

And now she was angry, which, as ever, puzzled him. "Who do you think you're talking to?" she demanded, getting into his face as well. He leaned back as she pushed forward, raising his hands. "Just _how long_ do you think I've known you for? You might not know it, but I've got you _pretty well figured out_ , and you're the kind of guy who'd _definitely_ go!"

He hadn't realized how far he'd leaned away from her until she sat back, shifting a little in the grass and staring at him. His mind had gone blank, but it eventually clicked. She thought she knew him like the back of her hand, that she could tell what he would do just by looking at him. His ears lay flat on the back of his head, and a rather human-sounding growl left his throat. The worst part of what she was saying? She was probably right. He'd spent more time with her than he ever had Kikyo. He'd talked to her and behaved around her like he never had Kikyo.

Kagome knew a _him_ that Kikyo never had. Honestly, he wasn't sure what to make of that fact, so as ever, he drew irritation around him like a protective blanket to hide his bewilderment. However, this was Kagome. She wasn't going to put up with his indignation; not when her temper was strong enough - if not stronger - to match his. "And when you do go," she continued oblivious to the revelation that had run through his head, "I'll be upset. But… That's to be expected, right?"

His anger melted away when she looked at him again, and her eyes were so soft, and so bright, and so full of _something_ he just couldn't place. With a small sigh, she looked away. He thought for a moment she was going to get up and walk away, but she didn't. Rather, she shifted closer to him until she was resting against his side, pulling her knees to her chest and resting the back of her head in the crook of his neck. "Hey…" he said softly, stunned by her sudden and mystifying change in mood, "You really are angry, aren't you…"

"Yes, I am, but…" She sighed again, her voice trailing off. Inuyasha waited, leaning forward to try and see her face. Her eyes were closed, and she looked exhausted, but she didn't answer. Little did he know that she was thinking to herself. She really did know Inuyasha very well. She might not have known his exact thoughts, but she knew his moods. She knew when he was agitated or content, she knew when he was scared or concerned. She could tell he was more comfortable with her than almost anyone because he _talked_ to her more than anyone, let her touch him more than anyone, and he touched _her_ more than anyone. She could read him like a book. So she knew without a doubt that if given the chance to find that undead miko, he would leave her side with such little hesitation, it scared her. He could never forget Kikyo, and yet… She smiled, settling deeper against that infuriating half demon. _I love you_ , she thought. She wasn't sure whether she was supposed to feel happy about it, or sad. _I love you so, so much… So there's nothing I can do about it._

He couldn't help it. Kagome had this affect on him. Maybe it was how forgiving she was even when he hurt her or failed her, or maybe it was her scent or her gentle warmth as she pressed against him. But for whatever reason, he couldn't help but smile, resting his cheek against the top of her head, breathing in the scent of _her_. Without exactly meaning to, but not exactly meaning _not_ to, he reached around her back and pulled her closer to him, hugging her, holding her, protecting her. And more than anything, he was thanking her. He might not have known a lot, or been the most intelligent man alive, but what he did know was that for the life of him, he did not deserve Kagome.

And yet, she stayed. She stayed, and she fought, and she cared.

Because she loved him.

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Miko - a Shinto shrine maiden; "priestess"

* * *

A/N I love this scene. Have I mentioned that before? Because I really freaking love this scene. Partly because fluff, partly because holy crap that is my favorite art style in the entire anime holy shiz, huehuehueheuhue

Also, did I mention that I watch and read Inuyasha while I'm writing? Because it's very very time consuming. Ya.

*cough* StarlingChild4, this one's for you too *cough*

* * *

 _Currently listening to: LA Devotee - Panic! at the Disco  
_


	14. She'd Betray Them Again

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 30** _(English Sub, English Dub)_

 **Chapter 110-111** _(English Translation)_

" _She'd Betray Them Again"_

 _..._

* * *

Sango only closed her eyes, breath hitching a little as she turned her head back to Kagome's stomach. Just before she lost consciousness, a despairing thought ran through her mind. She'd gained friends in Kagome, Miroku, Inuyasha, and Shippo... And she'd lost them. _This really is… All my fault…_

She didn't hear Kagome's scream. "That's not true!" Her voice grated at her throat to be heard over the steadily increasing volume of the miasma and wind. "All Sango wanted was to save her little brother from _you_! She didn't want to hurt us at all! We could never hate her!"

From behind her, Inuyasha swore again. Something fell over her shoulders, and she jumped before looking up. Inuyasha was pulling the Robe of the Fire Rat off of himself and draping it haphazardly over her, Sango, and Shippo. "Put it on!" he demanded, his eyes sharp. "It should be able to keep some of the miasma off!"

Before she could say anything to the contrary, he lunged forward just as a mass of shouki surged towards them. "SANKON TESSOU!"

With only his yukata, he was showered in the full power of the miasma. He gave a pained cry, curling in on himself till he was bent double and staggering away. " _INUYASHA_!" Kagome shouted. To her left, Miroku swing his staff, a few of the miasma beasts bursting with louds hisses. He leapt deftly away, his momentum that had carried him to his enemies not nearly as great as Inuyasha's, but he still got a lungful of poisonous gas as it burst forward. He choked. With each enemy defeated, it was getting harder and harder for them all to breathe.

"We're getting nowhere," Miroku gagged, stumbling over to Kagome, Shippo, Sango, and Kirara, all huddled together under the Fire Rat.

Inuyasha stepped back towards them as well, turning from side to side with his claws raised. He didn't see as Miroku's hand traveled up to his sacred beads, didn't see or hear as he began to rip them off, preparing to use his Kazaana. But Shippo and Kagome did. With a loud cry of "Miroku!", Shippo dropped Kirara and launched himself at Miroku's arm, latching on like a vise. "Don't do it!" he sobbed desperately, holding on with both little arms as his dainty fox feet kicked in the air. "If you open it now, you'll die!"

"Let go, Shippo!" Miroku shouted, trying in vain to shake the little kitsune off his arm. When that did nothing, he reached over with his other hand, grabbed him by his bushy tail, and pried him off, tossing him back to Kagome, who caught him. But it had been enough to catch Inuyasha's attention.

"Miroku! Don't you dare die in vain either!" he hollered, obviously beside himself with anger at the idea that the monk would deliberately open his cursed hand when his life was in danger.

"There's no choice!" Miroku bellowed back. His handsome face was alive with determination and furious passion. He yanked on the beads again. "If I can save everyone from being killed, then-"

Kagome gasped as Inuyasha sucker-punched the monk halfway through his sentence, plunging his fist into his stomach. Miroku's eyes went wide with shock and pain, comprehension barely reading on his face. "You… _Bastard…_ " he gasped, struggling to breathe as the air was knocked from his lungs. He opened his mouth again, but his dark eyes rolled back into his head before he could say any more, and he slumped forward, knocked out. Inuyasha caught him with one arm and lowered him to the ground beside Sango and Kagome, snarling.

" _Jeeze_ , what a moron," he growled, straightening.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said softly, her fingers at her mouth in dumbfounded astonishment. "Why would you-"

" _Keh_! If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been able to stop him," Inuyasha said harshly, answering her question before she had time to even finish it. "He'd have killed himself." He turned and stared her full in the face, amber eyes overbright and brows pinched. "You better stay put, or else I'm never gonna let you come with us again!"

"Your naivety with be the death of you," came Naraku's voice again, making them both look up as they tried to find him. "You cannot hate the woman who betrayed you, and you valued the houshi's life too much to let him sacrifice himself." He chuckled. "Fool. I thought you'd come in handy. And now that you can't escape, you will die." Inuyasha backed up, crouching in front of Kagome and the rest of his friends, ready to protect them.

But Kagome wasn't having it. She wasn't having _any_ of it. " _Everything_ ," she growled, suddenly furious as she pulled Inuyasha's robe off her head and dropped it around Sango's, "Is because of _your_ plotting… _Your_ evil…"

Inuyasha stared at her as she rose to her feet. He almost warned her to stay down, but from the hard glint in her brown eyes just now, something so foolhardy as that just might have been the death of him. Kagome shrugged her bow off her shoulder, glancing around feverishly. _Naraku has a fragment of the Shikon no Tama with him_ , she thought, searching. _If I look for that, I can find him…_

She could see a pinprick of otherworldly light, several feet away and on the roof. But that light was rather pure, and untainted. It was Kohaku's shard, not Naraku's. She looked away.

She almost missed it, but just through the thick miasma, she could see a small glimmer, shining with malicious brightness, through the wall of one of the mansion rooms. It was the light of the Shikon no Tama. "Over there!" she shouted, reaching for an arrow. She raised her bow, glancing over her shoulder at her friends, lying as though dead on the ground. In that split second - hardly a breath that she looked away - Inuyasha surged forward with a ferocious bellow, hacking and slashing at the miasma beasts. "INUYASHA!"

It was too much for him. He stumbled to a halt, dazed as he inhaled the poisonous gas, and was attacked by one of the beasts. It caught him in the throat, hurling him several feet back, where he landed with a strangled gasp and a heavy thud on the ground.

It was getting pretty infuriating to hear Naraku's voice and never once see his face, but it happened all the same. " _Pathetic_ ," he called mockingly, allowing the dark creatures of shouki circle around Inuyasha where he struggled on the ground. Kagome watched, frozen to the spot. "You and your friends will all die in agony, huh." He laughed again as Inuyasha groaned, pushing himself unsteadily to his hands and knees as he glared balefully at the wall where he knew the evil voice was hiding behind. "You know, for a failure of a half-breed like you, on your hands and knees is an appropriate way to die."

There was a brilliant and blinding flash of light, and something whistled past Inuyasha's ear.

With a thunderous crash, the side of the building he had been unable to make it to exploded, the shouki beasts shrieking and dissipating as their bodies were met with the light. His jaw dropped open in shock. Behind him, he could hear Miroku - who had begun to stir - gasp. Through the settling dust and falling rubble, there was a figure. A tall, handsome, dark figure, wearing ornate and expensive clothes, and his entire right side blown away. His rich red eyes were wide with astonishment, but they weren't watching Inuyasha. They were watching something behind him.

Inuyasha rolled over, sitting up and staring as well.

Kagome's brown eyes were shining with righteous fury, her bow raised and her hand still drawn back to her cheek. It was a frightening, honestly quite beautiful sight. "Naraku," she said, her voice trembling with her dire accusation, "You really are absolutely _despicable_!"

The man who was Naraku raised his uninjured hand and pressed it to his bloodless wound. He looked… Almost frightened. Inuyasha didn't see it though. He could only stare as Kagome nocked another arrow to her bow and drew it back. "You're not getting away!" she screamed.

"You… Girl… Who are you?" Naraku asked faintly, sinking to his knees. Kagome didn't answer, her lips pulling back into a snarl. "A long time ago," he said breathlessly, "There was a woman with power just like yours."

"And you got that Kikyo into a trap and killed her!" she shouted, her eyes narrowing. "I won't let you go for that and what you've done to Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku. Not even if you _beg_ for forgiveness!"

"You're Kikyo's reincarnation?" Naraku asked, his eyes perceivably widening. "You're Kikyo?"

That final question seemed to serve only to make the pretty young woman more dangerous. Her eyes narrowed, and she lifted her chin. "My _name_ ," she seethed, "IS _KAGOME_!"

And with that, she released the arrow. It shot forward with yet another blinding flash. Inuyasha threw his arms up, shielding his face. He could feel the purifying power tingling up and down his whole body, and he watched as the arrow's head planted itself, for only a moment, in Naraku's chest.

Right where he himself was shot by Kikyo, fifty years ago.

With a roar, Naraku's body was blown apart, dissolving into shadowy whisps before disappearing.

"She did it," Shippo said, watching in awe as Kagome lowered her bow.

"Amazing..." Miroku breathed. He had crawled over to the kit and Sango, and was holding the young woman's head in his arms. Inuyasha watched with his mouth gaping as Naraku's head floated so gently down, like a feather on the breeze. His face was twisted in pain a moment before his eyes fluttered open. He was alive.

And he _grinned_.

A wicked, knowing grin that made everyone's blood run suddenly ice cold.

" _KAGOME_!"

With a loud _oof!_ Kagome was knocked to the ground, her head pillowed by something and her vision obstructed by Inuyasha's chest and hair as he crowded around her on all fours. He was practically laying on top of her, one hand on the top of her hair, his forehead pressed against hers, his face twisted in pain as he grunted, a wave of miasma showering over his back.

Behind them, in an impressive show of agility, Miroku yanked the Robe of the Fire Rat off of Sango, spun around, covered his own shoulders and head with the red garment, and scooped up Shippo and Kirara. His body curled around the Sango's as he pulled her to his chest, his brow furrowed as her cheek pressed against his jaw. He could _feel_ the incredible, dark _power_ of the miasma, even through the protective robe.

For several long and breathless seconds, the miasma and ghostly wind whipped around them before it died down. Kagome opened her eyes to see Inuyasha, his eyes shut tight and panting open-mouthed. He blinked suddenly down at her, closing his mouth a moment and opening it again. She pushed herself up and hugged him a moment before realizing with a jolt that there was sunlight all around them. Sunlight, and the ruins of a castle long gone.

"It's gone," Shippo said, breaking the silence as he crawled out of Miroku's arms and into the warmth. "The castle's _gone_."

"It was a phantom mansion," Miroku said softly, shrugging Inuyasha's robes off his shoulders and looking down at Sango. Very gently, very carefully - and secretly reluctant about it - he set her down on the ground and stood to walk to Kagome and Inuyasha as they sat up, still wrapped around one another. When Kagome let go of the half demon, she looked around in a daze. Something glinting in the sunlight caught her eye.

"Inuyasha, look," she said softly. It was Tetsusaiga, rusty and nicked, half buried in the earth just a little ways away from where they sat. Silent, Miroku brushed past them, dropping Inuyasha's robe beside him and walking slowly forward until he came to a sudden stop. Where there had been a sheer stone bulwark, there was now a cliff of clay and rock, a scraggly tree growing here, a scruffy bush there, a patch of grass making itself home on a short ledge or bump.

Inuyasha pulled on his robe, tucking it into his hakama as Kagome stood and wandered unsteadily over to where Naraku had been. Kneeling on the ground and staring at the patch of dirt he had stood, she fought a bitter rise of emotions that left a painful lump at the back of her throat. She'd been so close to defeating him. So _close_! If she had only been a bit closer, if she had only been a bit more powerful, she could have saved her friends from suffering that was sure to come. If she could have only destroyed Naraku now, she could have brought Kohaku back to Sango. But now, there was nothing. Kohaku was nowhere to be seen, the Shikon shards were gone, and Naraku… Naraku wasn't dead. She _knew_ it.

Biting her lip, she bowed her head, the tears prickling at the back of her eyes. "Naraku escaped?" Kagome flinched at Inuyasha's soft voice, and nodded.

"The Shikon fragments are gone…" she sighed.

"I see. _Damn_." He yanked the Tetsusaiga out of the ground, wiped the dirt off on his hakama, and sheathed it without a word.

"I'm sorry…"

Surprised, he looked at Kagome. She was kneeling on the spot where Naraku had disappeared, her shoulders hunched and voice frighteningly soft compared to the furious bellow it had been before. "Why're you apologizing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Indeed. You have nothing to apologize for," Miroku agreed, cocking his head and watching her closely as he wandered back to the group.

"I couldn't fell him," she said , shaking her head. "I… Wasn't strong enough."

This left Inuyasha genuinely taken aback, his brooding visage dropping to one of surprise. It was Miroku who spoke, though. "If you hadn't been there, Kagome-sama, we would have all been dead by now. It doesn't matter if you couldn't kill Naraku. We're all alive."

Oh, but it _did_ matter. Kagome shook her head again. It mattered because she's just had the opportunity to save them all from an untold amount of pain and heartache; Naraku was sure to meet them again, and he hated them all.

Soft footsteps approached, and Inuyasha suddenly knelt beside her, leaning down to better look into her face. "I've never seen you fight like that before," he said, sounding rather curious. "You were almost as powerful as me, if not more so. It was… Pretty amazing, actually."

"Yes, how did you do that?" Miroku added. Shippo leapt up onto his arm, watching avidly.

A scowl suddenly crossed over her face, forcing the gloomy one away. "When he started making fun of Inuyasha," she said darkly, "I just _snapped_."

It took a moment for the words to sink in, but when they did, Miroku watched curiously as Inuyasha's face turned suddenly bright red and he tucked his hands into his sleeves. "You…" he half mumbled, suddenly unable to speak coherently and looking awkwardly away. "Got all… With the bow and... And for such a silly reason…"

" _Huh_? What do you mean, ' _silly'_!" Kagome exclaimed, turning to face him, rather hurt. Rather unsurprised, Miroku sighed and looked away.

"Don't move around, Sango! You're badly hurt!"

Sango had risen. She was several feet from where Miroku had left her, gripping her Hiraikotsu so tightly, her knuckles were white, but she couldn't rise much more than her knees. Miroku started forward, Kagome and Inuyasha following not soon after.

"Please stop her!" Shippo cried out to them when he saw that they had seen. "She's trying to go somewhere even though she's- Sango, please!"

"Now where in the world are you going?" Miroku asked amicably, though his brow was furrowed with concern. "Stay here. We'll take care of you."

"I'm sorry," she croaked faintly, bowing her head still further and refusing to look at any of them. "I can't stay with you any longer…"

"Sango," Miroku said soothingly, watching the pretty young woman with something like pity. "We all know you were being blackmailed by Naraku with the life of your brother if you didn't give him the sword, everyone here accepts that-"

" _Exactly_!" Sango suddenly shouted. She turned to look at them over her shoulder, and what a painful, miserable expression she was trying to hide under anger. "I'll betray you again! I'll do it again and _again_ if it meant that I could save Kohaku! I just…"

She turned away once more. "Sango," Shippo whimpered, pressing close against the exterminator.

"Sango? Do you intend to go after Naraku alone? You of all people should know that that will never work," Miroku said softly.

"But it's the only way," Sango said ominously, her voice sounding so defeated and broken it scared them.

"No." Kagome strode forward, setting a hand on her friend's arm. "That's ridiculous. We'll all look for Kohaku-kun."

"Right," Miroku agreed. "We'll all work together. You may be strong, Sango, but you're not invincible. You can't beat Naraku alone. He's not the kind of enemy one person can take on."

Kagome tugged a little at Sango's yukata, trying to peer into her friend's face. "Here. We need to tend to your wounds."

Sango didn't move. "Why…" she started, her lower lip trembling and brow furrowed, "Are you all…"

Inside Inuyasha's mind, something snapped. He had had _enough_ of this, and he was going to let that woman know so. Striding forward, planting his arms akimbo and shaking his hair out of his face, he said loudly, "Stop yapping already, will ya? It's better we all stick together! You're not half bad at fighting, and you hate Naraku as much as we do. That's all there is to it!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, somewhat surprised that the half demon would try to convince this girl to stay and travel with them, especially after how much he'd complained about Shippo and Miroku. Said monk smiled, clapping a hand to Inuyasha's shoulder.

"You see, Sango?" he said lightly, grinning. "Even after stealing his sword, even Inuyasha wants you to stay with us. So there obviously isn't a problem."

Inuyasha shrugged the monk's hand off his shoulder, glaring at him as though trying to figure out whether he was being insulted or not. "You sayin' I'm a half-wit or something?" he spluttered defensively. Miroku sighed. Of course Inuyasha would take something like that as an insult.

"I'm just saying you have a big heart," he clarified. Inuyasha reeled back a little, obviously unsure of whether he should take that as a compliment or a worse attack on his pride. Nobody else paid him any mind, however.

"Don't you like us, Sango?" Shippo asked in a tiny, heartbroken voice. Sango tightened her grip on her Hiraikotsu.

"Of course I do," she said hoarsely. "But it's all my fault… And if I… If I can save Kohaku… I'll probably end up doing this all again… How can you… Trust me again? Would you really let m-me go with you wh-when I might betray you?"

"We already _said_ we want you with us," Inuyasha barked, scowling again. "So just let it go already!"

A tear slipped down Sango's face. Then another. Her breathing hitched, and she turned tremulously to Kagome, pressing her head to the younger girl's collarbone. But it was only when Kagome hugged her, running her hand down her hair and pressing her face against the top of her head, that Sango finally began to sob. Heartbroken, elated, relieved, horrible, wonderful, wracking sobs that shook her whole, broken frame. The boys watched in mild surprise.

"Why's she crying?" Inuyasha wondered under his breath. Miroku shook his head.

"I'll explain it to you later," he said wearily. He might not have been so tactless as to say it out loud, but he wouldn't deny that his friend really was quite ignorant.

Kagome knew, though. Since she had Souta, she knew quite well how far she would go to save him. And if she knew anything about Sango, she had to be quite honest in saying that she was pretty sure the sobbing, wailing girl in her arms would walk three moons farther to save hers. But she could pretty well figure out that her friend must have struggled with herself so much in the past hour or so. And just now, she had to have been so, so afraid that she'd have been left alone again, to wander the world as a broken and lost soul. Still stroking her friend's hair, Kagome smiled as a tear dripped down her own face, and she pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "It'll be alright, Sango, I promise…" she said softly. She had to let her know that they would not abandon her. They would never, ever abandon her.

"We're here with you now."

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Shouki - poisonous gas or demonic energy; "miasma"

Sankon Tessou - "iron reaver, soul stealer"

Yukata - a type of traditional Japanese shirt

Kitsune - a fox demon

Houshi - a term for a Buddhist monk

Shikon no Tama - the Sacred Jewel; the Jewel of Four Souls

Hakama - a type of traditional Japanese pleated pants

* * *

A/N If I'm honest, I liked the manga's version of events much more than I liked the anime's. Yeah, the Kohaku and Sango scene was sweet and all, but... The manga just tugged at my heartstrings more, knowing that Kohaku really and truly was under Naraku's thumb, to the point where he almost kills Sango and doesn't even realize it at all. And also because Kagome's more of a boss in the manga, and her reason for getting absolutely furious just makes me happy, hueheuheuhue

Also, I've got cat ears on right now.

I'm not a weeb, I swear.

*sweats nervously*

As ever, have fun, don't die, love yourselves, and please leave a review because they give me life XD

Fun fact of the day: This chapter was originally 14 pages long, and went from the point where Kags, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Shippo first saw the castle to the end.

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 _Currently listening to: Did You Miss Me - Olly Murs  
_


	15. Beautiful Boy

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 38** _(English Sub)_

 **Chapter 175** _(English Translation)_

" _Beautiful Boy"_

 _..._

* * *

It was a curious sensation in the palm of her hand, really. A sort of tingling, but one she knew was from sacred power rather than pins and needles. It was the Jewel fragments.

Numbly, she raised the little glass bottle. The half dozen little shards were glittering with their ancient and sacred power just as much as they were the sun. Sun that was filtering through shadows, shadows which came from…

She looked up.

It was the Goshinboku.

She'd walked by this ancient tree many, many times in her life, and never once had she seen it like this. She'd always thought it was a beautiful tree, easily over 20 feet tall with emerald foliage in full leaf and a strong, straight trunk. However, the pale scar in the bark had always left her confused. It had always been there, as long as she could remember. In fact, she could recall once asking her grandfather why the tree had a scar, where it had come from, and for once, he could not tell her because he himself wasn't sure. It wasn't until a little while ago had she learned that that scar had come from being where a half demon boy with beautiful eyes and white dog ears had been sealed to its body for fifty years before being freed… By her. And now, she saw it as something more than a tree. This was a sacred place for her now. This was the place where her life had changed forever.

Walking forward, ignoring the small roped off area that surrounded the base as always, Kagome stopped just shy of that sacred tree, and pressed her forehead against its weathered bark.

This was the place where, 500 years ago… She had met Inuyasha.

And what a strange first meeting that had been! One that would never go down in the history books but would always be in her mind. She had been running from the vile demon, Mistress Centipede, when lo and behold, Inuyasha had awoken. Right off the bat, he had grated on her nerves, with that self satisfied and bitter smirk and that rough attitude. And always, always calling her 'Kikyo'... "What's with that confused look on your face, Kikyo?" he called down at her unable to do more that duck his chin and sneer with the sacred arrow clear through his chest, pinning him to the tree. "The woman I know wouldn't look so dumb. So, are you satisfied, Miss Kikyo? Now that you got me sealed to this damn tree?

" _Keh_! Just do her like ya did me, huh Kikyo? Do it with one shot, right through the heart, huh? Kill her like you killed _me_ , Kikyo!"

That had been the last straw. With a puzzled expression on his face as she stood and glowered up at him, Kagome finally answered. "Hey you!" she shouted. "Who the heck is this 'Kikyo, Kikyo' you keep calling me? Lemme tell you, _my_ name is-!" He smirked toothily down at her, raising a dark eyebrow in derisive skepticism.

And he was arguing petulantly with her even though both their lives were on the line. And he was screaming her name, terror marring his boyish features as he saw her life was in danger.

 _Inuyasha?_

He was grinning brightly from beside her, his face lit with the orange light of their campfire, a stray ramen noodle dangling from his lips and down his chin like he were a simple child.

He was baring his fangs at her for almost hitting him with an arrow.

He was lying across her lap, black-haired and human, looking like he felt so _safe_ , so _cared_ for, his face so _peaceful,_ he could have been dead.

 _Inuyasha?_

He was glaring down at her from high above her head, his mouth drawn into a thin, hard line. He was wrapping his trembling arms so tightly around her body, burying his face in her neck, it was as though he were afraid she were going to evaporate from his very hands. _Inuyasha?_

He was smiling into an ocean breeze as they stood on the edge of a cliff, his eyes closed, and he was watching her through a dull amber stare glazed over with pain as he lay weak upon the ground, covered in his own blood. He was shaking his long hair out of his face as he shouted at Sango to make her understand that their group wanted her with them - _Inuyasha…!_ \- and he was gasping in pain as he took a blow meant for her, and he was grinning lopsidedly as he messed with her cat like the goofy teenage boy he both was and never could be.

And he was looking into her eyes in that dark forest with such a fathomless grief it broke her heart, and he breathed her name in a hoarse whisper filled a terrible, heart-wrenching sadness:

" _Kagome..._ "

Kagome blinked, the Goshinboku flashing back into view as she returned to reality. Sinking to her knees, tears falling freely onto the ground, she brought her hands up to her face as the she suddenly became aware of something; an epiphany of sorts that both broke her heart and made it thunder with the oddest mixture of elation and terror. It hurt. It hurt so bad, she could barely draw breath as she stared at that ancient tree, at that pale, wooden scar. It hurt so bad, and it was because of _him_. It was because of Inuyasha. For a moment, the savage thought ran through her head that she wished she had never met the half demon; she wouldn't be going through such pain, with tears streaming down her face if she had never met him. Then came another thought, this one more frightening and wonderful and painful than the thought of never meeting him.

It was that she _had_ met him.

And she _wanted_ to see him.

She wanted to see him, and to be by his side, and to talk with him, and to fight and bicker. She wanted to feel his pain and his suffering, to be there when he laughed and smiled and to see his face when he looked at her. She wanted to be with him so much, it hurt her far more than the hurt of only moments before...

The boughs of Goshinboku swayed, all flashing sunlight and rustling leaves.

How could this have happened? How could it have been that in only a few short months she had fallen for that rude, irascible, tactless, boar-headed, violent young man? How was it that before even she knew it, she had fallen so in love with that annoying, argumentative, idiotic, foul-mouthed, overprotective, wounded, lost, searching, sincere, kind-hearted, loving, wonderful, _beautiful_ boy?

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Goshinboku - the Sacred Tree; the Tree of Ages

* * *

A/N Well that was fun to write, lolz. Only took me like 6 days to gain the motivation. I think I have an addiction to describing characters. ALSO I promise I'm writing an actual story and not just one-shots. I've written the first page over at least 3 different times, I don't know why words are coming so hard lately XD

Know what I love? Being attacked for not writing homosexual ships. It's literally the best, thanks "S" and "No Hetero" for being such wonderful people and sharing your wonderful "you homophobic b-ch" and "KYS" comments, I really appreciate it. Love you guys.

*siiiigh* Oh well. Life goes on.

Have fun, don't die, love yourselves, be nice to other people, and please leave a review, I love ya'll XD

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Yellow Ledbetter - Pearl Jam  
_


	16. Wanting by the Bone Eater's Well

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 38** _(English Sub)_

 **Chapter 176** _(English Translation)_

" _Wanting by the Bone Eater's Well"_

 _..._

* * *

He felt sick. He was so utterly disgusted with himself, he had made himself sick. But it was something that had to be done. He'd made up his mind to protect Kikyo and then give his life for her. It was only fair, and he wasn't one to go back on his word. So now he had to go back to Kagome and bid her a final farewell. Forever. Even if he didn't want to.

He _didn't_ want to. But he had to. If not for his sake, so that he could move on, then for hers as well, to save her from the guilt.

The sunlight of the meadow hit him full in the face, and he flinched, blinded. And when he at last could see again, he realized with a thrill that _Kagome_ was there, sitting on the edge of the Well, her back to him. He wasn't sure if it was a thrill of joy or of terror, only that it left his heart hammering with nerves and his stomach somewhere around his toes. It scared him. Oh yes, he had been going to go say goodbye to her, to sever that final bond, but it had been on his terms up until a few moments ago. Now it had spiraled out of his control, and in a haze of half formed and fleeing thoughts, he wasn't so sure what he wanted anymore.

He hadn't realized his feet had continued to carry him forward. Only until the fifteen year old turned and looked at him did he realize that he was only a few feet away. He'd never been good with words, but he was suddenly speechless, struck dumb by something in her earth brown eyes.

She stood. "While I was back over there," she started, still watching him closely, "I gave it a lot of thought. About… About you and Kikyo and… Me."

"Kagome, I-" he burst out, unable to tear his eyes away. He had to say something. He _had_ to.

Kagome shook her head and glanced away, a rueful little smile making its home on her lips. "It's okay. I understand." She turned away, her face falling. "I understand how you feel, and so I thought that… I couldn't stay with you."

 _No. No, that's not it at all._ She had to understand. He _had_ to explain it to her. He balled his hands into fists, struggling for words that only haltingly came. "Kagome, I…" He took a deep breath, swallowing hard. "Until I met you, I never trusted another living soul. I _couldn't_. But I… I watched you shed tears for me. You… _Cried_. For my sake. And you were _always_ by my side, no matter what happened, or what we went through. And I'm… Kagome, I'm _happy_ when I'm with you. _You make me_ the _happiest_ I've ever been in my whole life. You… You soothe my soul. But… But I'm not _supposed_ to be happy, o-or at ease!

"Kikyo… She died. For my sake. She lost her life because I didn't trust her. So it's… It's only fair that I repay her with mine."

Kagome smiled again, but it was a joyless, melancholy thing, sadder than should have ever been allowed. "I know I can't compete with Kikyo," he heard her say, "Because I'm, well... Alive."

The thing was so terrible when it was said aloud, that Inuyasha felt a sudden stab of remorse. Somewhere, inside, he didn't want to die for Kikyo. He didn't want to die at all. He wanted to stay alive. He wanted to stay alive for Kagome. But he wasn't the kind of guy who backed down on a promise. He couldn't.

Kagome licked her lips and seemingly lost some of her nerve. The smile fell from her face, and she looked like she was about to cry as she sat abruptly down on the edge of the Well once more. "I, uh… Thought a lot about Kikyo while I was gone, too," she continued, her voice heartier and louder than was perhaps needed and ending on the short, sudden notes of one speaking through a lump of emotion. "We're…" She chuckled. "We're totally different, huh? And even with the talk about me being her reincarnation, I just can't see eye to eye with her. But that also means that I'm not her, I think. My heart belongs to me.

"But," she paused, "I have come to understand at least _one_ thing she feels. Something she and I both share."

Inuyasha looked up at the girl by the Bone Eater's Well, and before he could turn away, she was looking right at him too. Her face was calm, if a little sad, and still full of that inexplicable something.

"I wanted to see you again, Inuyasha."

He was so stunned by that, so utterly astounded by the idea, he actually couldn't breathe for a moment. She had… Wanted to see him? She'd wanted to see him as much as Kikyo? Such a wonderful, beautiful, kind and weak girl had wanted to see him, like he couldn't taint her? Like he wasn't a filthy half breed? Like he wasn't the kind of man who had broken her heart so many times?

She smiled a little and looked away. "Somehow, when I realized that Kikyo and I both felt the same, I felt a little bit better, actually," she continued speaking. "We were no different in that aspect. In fact, we were equals. So that's how I gathered my courage… And came to you."

He wanted to tell her how he felt.

He wanted so _desperately_ to tell her that he'd wanted this whole time to see her too, whether to apologize or say goodbye he didn't know. Perhaps he'd wanted to see her just to be with her. But thought he opened his mouth, the words couldn't form. His mind and his heart and his tongue all fought, totally at odds with one another, screaming that this just wasn't _fair_. It wasn't fair to him or to her that he had to decide whether he should follow what he wanted, whether he should say goodbye save her the heartache He didn't know if he should abandon Kikyo for Kagome, if he should follow Kikyo, if he should speak, if he should stay silent.

But he'd wanted to see her _so_ , so much…

He looked down, struggling terribly for words. He _really_ didn't know how to answer her. He didn't _want_ to answer her, because if he did, and if he did it _wrong…_

He could lose Kagome forever.

He didn't want to look up. What was she going to say? What was she going to do? What could he say?

"I don't want to leave you. I don't want to forget you. I want to stay with you."

The wind blew, rustling the leaves so they murmured and complained, but it couldn't blow away that single pronouncement. Their hair brushed past their faces, but neither of them moved or said anything for several long seconds.

 _Gods, Kagome… How am I supposed to answer…?_

"Inuyasha?"

Startled, he looked up.

"Let me just ask one thing."

He watched in high apprehension as the girl from to future - the girl who saved his life - stood from where she sat on the lip of the Bone Eater's Well, and walked slowly and deliberately towards him. She stopped a few feet away, her expression soft and still so full of that _something_ he couldn't quite place. He was honestly quite surprised that she couldn't hear his heart beating in his throat, making it hard to swallow.

"Will you let me stay with you?"

His ear twitched, and for a moment, he tried to comprehend what she had just asked. If his ears weren't deceiving him, if he really had just heard right… Kagome had just asked _him_ if she could stay with him.

No. No, that was wrong. It was all backwards. He should be asking _her_. He should have been on his knees before her, _begging_ for her to stay with him, and he knew it. Because despite all that he held for Kikyo, despite the fact that he had decided only a little while ago that he would protect Kikyo and die for her because he needed to repay her… His resolve in that decision had already wavered. It wavered the moment he realized that he couldn't give both Kikyo and Kagome his life. His determination had near fled him when he understood that Kikyo might have that from him, but with all his heart he wanted to be happy, and it was Kagome - not Kikyo - which gave him that. She brought him back to life like Kikyo never had, showed him what it was like to have friends, and to be trusted, and to trust. Kikyo had done the best she could for him. Kagome had shown him the best he could do for himself.

"You… Want to stay... With _me…_?" he nearly whispered, still puzzled. She didn't say anything, but she nodded, and her face was so utterly relieved, so full of perfect, well-hidden bliss, he could only watch. He could only watch as she did him, her mind filled with sudden lightness and sunlight. She knew, deep in her heart (though it did not want to believe it), that Inuyasha's bond with Kikyo could never be cut. Their relationship was something she couldn't even come close to, let alone break. But there was always that exhilarating knowledge that, even though Kikyo had come before her, and held such a place in that half demon's heart, it wasn't a simple coincidence that she had met him. And really, she didn't think it was by chance that he had met her, either.

Because she wasn't Kikyo.

Kagome wasn't Kikyo, even if they shared the same soul.

Because unlike Kikyo, Kagome wanted Inuyasha to be happy.

She wanted to keep him moving forward. She didn't want him to stay and linger over the darkness of the past, unable to move on from that point where he was sealed to a sacred tree, and the woman he loved died believing he betrayed her.

Unlike Kikyo, Kagome wanted Inuyasha to live.

She took a deep breath, gathering her nerve as she watched the hanyou boy whisper her name, golden eyes glittering in the daylight, obviously struggling to understand. It took a strange amount of courage to reach for his hand and take it in her own, but she couldn't not. "Let's go, Inuyasha," she said brightly, lacing her fingers through his and squeezing before suddenly pulling him away towards the village.

"O-oh… Yeah..." He didn't do much more than follow her for a moment, obviously still a little shocked, his gruff act stripped away and leaving him vulnerable. But with a thrill of pure happiness, she felt his fingers very tentatively, very shyly close around her own. _Yes, I'm different from Kikyo_ , she mused as he returned her squeeze with one of his own. _I want you to smile often, Inuyasha, and I want you to be happy. I want you to laugh a lot. I don't know what I'll be able to do for you, or even if I_ can _do anything, but_ …

They came to a halt at the edge of the hillside, another breeze sweeping past. Kagome looked up into Inuyasha's face with a little grin.

And he was smiling back. A real, full, soft smile that reached his eyes and made them shine with the precious life she so strongly wanted to protect. A smile that was meant for her and for her only.

 _But I can promise you this,_ she thought, leaning her head against the half demon's shoulder with a little giggle. Without a moment's hesitation, he did the same, pressing his cheek against the top of her head and sighing. _Even if there are times I'm mad, or you're hurt, or if Kikyo tries to drag you down to hell again… Even if there's times when we can't smile together, I will always, always stay by your side._

 _..._

* * *

 _Glossary:_

none

* * *

A/N I am so tired... I'll probably fix all this sometime later, because some of it's probably worded really weird, but... Not right now.

Love ya'll..

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 _Currently listening to: Yellow Ledbetter - Pearl Jam  
_


	17. Under Their Control

...

* * *

 **Episode 166** _(English Sub, English Dub)_

 **Chapter 354-355** _(English Translation)_

" _Under Their Control"_

 _..._

* * *

Biting her lip a moment, Kagome hesitated. For some reason, one that pulled at her gut like she were going down a rollercoaster, she didn't want to give the Shard to Inuyasha.

It wasn't that she was worried about him abusing the power. She trusted him far more than that. No, she was afraid of the power abusing _him_. There were only a small handful of beings that they had met in their travels who had not had their minds taken over by the power of the Shikon no Tama. With all the evil surrounding them, she didn't want the Jewel to leave her hand where it was purified. However, they were desperate, and this was their last chance.

She held out the glass bottle.

Inuyasha sloshed over to them and took it, staring hard into her face like he were both thanking her and reassuring her before making his way back to where he had stood before. Kagome, Sango, and Shippo watched as the half demon held the tiny glass bottle up and shut his eyes for a moment with a scowl, like he were praying. She could guess what for; that that single, tiny shard would be their saving grace. That the tiny piece of the Shikon no Tama could be what rescued them. Without a word, Inuyasha opened his eyes, and slammed the little bottle against the Tetsusaiga's blade, pieces of glass flying as it shattered. When he removed his hand again, the shard had embedded itself into the sword, glowing fiercely as he gripped the hilt with both hands. It pulsed, sending waves of energy through the air and deep ripples in the acid he stood in.

"Onto Tetsusaiga," Sango said softly, comprehension dawning across her face as she absently pulled Miroku's head closer to her chest.

"I see," Shippo said excitedly, wriggling in Kagome's arms. "He's putting it on the Tetsusaiga to make it stronger! If he boosts its power, he should be able to cut his way out!"

Kagome could understand too. She could understand that logic; the Shikon shards had - generally - acted as a sort of amplifier to all the humans and demons they had thus far met. That which was good was made great, that which was strong was made stronger, and that which was evil was made darker and more twisted. The Tetsusaiga was an incredible powerful weapon. Inuyasha was an incredibly powerful hanyou. The little shard should have made him and his attack far stronger than before, strong enough to at last rip a hole through the oni's stomach so they could escape. The problem was, it didn't look like things were going well for him. As a matter of fact, things seemed to be going quite the opposite.

There was another pulse of energy, and then another, each growing in strength as it passed over them. Inuyasha hunched over, gasping and grunting in what sounded like exertion. Each time there was another pulse of power, he shook. Each time a wave broke, he strained. And each time the Shikon shards surged with power, nobody else seemed to notice that it felt more and more malicious with each second.

Kagome felt her heartbeat falter.

The shard. The shard was black.

There was another burst of energy, this one far more powerful than anything the little group had felt so far. Sango and Shippo had noticed by now that something was wrong; perhaps it was something to do with the fact that this new burst of power had been one of jaki, or more likely it was to do with the way Inuyasha had crumpled, now bent double over his sword with his hair rising into the air with the sudden surge of his demonic energy. In the long moment it took for them to realize this, Shippo's tiny hands gripped Kagome's shirt tightly as they watched on in horror.

Kagome couldn't see Inuyasha's face very well from where she sat, but what she could see scared her. She could see as his fangs grew suddenly sharp, jutting out over his lower lip until he opened his mouth in a low moan. She could see how his hands tightened on the hilt of his sword, his claws lengthening, knuckles white. She could see how his ears lay flat against his skull, his stark white hair brushing past as it flew on his rising demonic wind, and how jagged purple markings were surfacing along his cheekbones like they were being absorbed through his skin. But more than anything, she could see the malicious, dark light of the suddenly tainted Shikon jewel shard that was sending its evil power into Inuyasha's body with each pulse of jaki, and she could hear his scream of agony as he lost control of his mind, bent double with the pain.

After a long, drawn out moment where Shippo squealed as the hanyou screamed, Inuyasha stiffened before unexpectedly, panting hard, he whipped around and stared at them all.

His eyes were red. Red as blood and blue as ice.

"Inuyasha," Sango said faintly, looking petrified. Nothing she had seen in a long, long time had been as terrifying as staring her friend in the face just now, when his mind was eaten away by his own dark youkai blood.

"He's looking right at us!" Shippo squeaked in high terror, unable to tear his eyes away from the horrible sight.

But there was something different about this transformation. His life wasn't in danger, per se, and yet he was actively losing control of his mind and body. However, Kagome could tell - even in her frozen state - that the hanyou could see them, he could recognize them. It didn't seem that he had completely lost his human heart quite yet. With what looked to be extreme effort, his face pinched with the effort to hold onto that sliver of sanity and fear of his own, dripping in sweat, he screamed, " _RUN AWAY, YOU IDIOTS!_ "

Sometimes, Kagome wasn't the smartest girl in the world. Inuyasha usually got called out the most for being hot-headed and stubborn and impulsive, admonished the most for running into battle with a half baked plan usually formed in the heat of the moment and tumultuous emotions. However, when it really came down to it, Kagome was every bit as stubborn, impulsive, headstrong, and emotionally driven as he was. She put herself between friends and strangers alike when their lives were in danger, and she fought and argued with the silver-haired boy she loved on the same level of difficult obstinacy he did. So though Inuyasha was screaming for them to escape, to run from him, to save themselves, Kagome did not obey. Rather, she set Shippo down on Miroku's chest, and with a desperate noise flung the Fire Rat from her head. Shippo and Sango both cried out to her in surprise, but she couldn't hear them. Her vision had tunneled, and she could only see that pained, pinched, demonic face. " _INUYASHA_!"

She collided with him with such a force he was almost knocked off his feet. He was growling, and he was laughing that terrible, haunting laugh that came out with his vicious inner demon, but she only tightened her arms, under his shoulders and around his chest. In his defensive stance, her head was tucked under his chin so she could feel how his teeth ground. She buried her face in his chest, hoping against hope that somehow, just somehow, he could hear her silent plea, her mute call for him to stay and to resist, because he just _couldn't_ lose. He _couldn't_ give in, he just _couldn't_.

All of a sudden, the pain set in. With a strangled gasp, Kagome lost all strength in her legs, pulling Inuyasha several inches down with her; the acid of the oni's stomach was eating her alive from the outside in, burning her feet and dissolving her flesh and clothes. She hadn't noticed as much running over even as she splashed through the ankle-high liquid, but it hit her at full force now. A strangled and drawn out sob left her as she tried and failed not to cry in pain. Inuyasha's demon chuckled again for a moment, reveling in her torment. It was pure agony. It pervaded every corner of her mind, all consuming and vicious, but she _did not let go of that boy_. She couldn't let go. She _wouldn't_ let go.

Inuyasha drew a long breath, then grunted, suddenly sounding like he was in as much pain as the girl clinging so desperately to him. He was shaking. "K… _Kah-goh-may_ …" His voice was drawn, every syllable of her name dragging itself from his mouth like he'd forgotten how to speak, and his breathing ragged, but after a moment's waiting, Kagome slowly, so very slowly looked up. Like he had woken up from a deep sleep, Inuyasha was looking down at her, too. He wasn't exactly back to normal - the jagged purple demonic markings _were_ still on his cheekbones, and his fangs _were_ still a bit longer than was perhaps usual, and his face _was_ still flushed and sweaty, and there _was_ still an odd darkness that ringed his eyes, but his gaze was a clear ochre once again, and he was obviously, _undeniably_ seeing _her_.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice was frighteningly soft, even to her own ears. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" His own voice was barely above a whisper as well. Something about his face struck her suddenly, even through the haze of pain that clouded her vision and brought tears to her eyes. Or… Perhaps it _was_ the pain that made her think it, but whatever the reason, that boy looked suddenly… Quite beautiful. "Kagome? Hold onto me a little longer," he continued, his voice breaking a little as he turned away. "Please, just… Just a bit longer. Support me."

Like she wasn't already going to do just that. With a short, half conscious nod, Kagome leaned forward and circled her arms under his once more, and pressed her face into his back, into his long, soft silver hair. She closed her eyes, brow furrowed and hoping to put a hundred thousand different things into her embrace. A hundred thousand different things that she wished she could tell him, never would say, and hoped he could understand before she suddenly relaxed. Everything hurt. It hurt _really bad_. Her feet were on fire. It was hard to breathe. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, and yet… It was all, very suddenly, going to be alright.

She couldn't exactly see what was going on, but beyond her pain she could feel the rush of youki that pulsated around Inuyasha; youki that was fully in his control, which was far stronger than was normal. He wasn't hanyou just now, but a full daiyoukai, his evil blood purified under her fingertips and held in control by the both of them. She could feel his muscles tense under her hands as he raised Tetsusaiga above his head, she could feel and hear him growling, she could feel the charge of his attack. " _Kongo…_ _Sou…_ _HAH_!"

Shippo and Sango screwed their eyes shut and doubled over to protect themselves as the demonic attack flew from where Inuyasha and Kagome stood; the Kongo Souha, with its thousands of jewel-bright adamantite spears blasting forth and ripping through the previously impenetrable oni's stomach. Even Sango, with her completely average human senses, could feel just how much more powerful it was compared to normal. The rush of demonic wind broke over them after a few long moments, and ears ringing, they blinked in the golden light of dawn.

"I-it's the outside!" Shippo said, his small voice alive with amazement.

"We're saved," Sango exhaled as well. They were _free_. With a relieved grin, the taijiya laughed and pressed her forehead to the unconscious monk's, hugging his shoulders tightly.

The boulders had stopped falling at last when Inuyasha laughed as well - a breathy, relieved giggle, really, but he hardly registered it, nor did he care enough to address it. Eyes bright and shining, he turned to look over his shoulder at the dark-haired girl still wrapped around him like her life depended on it. "We're safe, Kagome," he said.

She looked terrible. Eyes overbright and barely open, face pale and sweaty, panting like she had run miles, on the very brink of consciousness, Kagome nodded weakly against his spine. Her grip on his yukata weakened. Without warning, her eyes rolled back in her head, knees buckling, and she slipped down his bac

"Kagome?" Inuyasha spun around, suddenly frightened as he saw, as if in slow motion, as Kagome began to collapse. He caught her around her waist, calling her name again, and pulled her into his arms, sinking to his knees. "Hang on, Kagome!" Roughly brushing her sweaty hair out of her face with his claws, he peered into her pale face. " _Kagome_ ," he near whispered insistently.

Kagome didn't stir.

The hanyou's next desperate, anguished cry echoed up and down the canyon.

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Oni - an ogre; a type of youkai

Jaki - malicious demonic power/youki

Youki - demonic power

Daiyoukai - a very powerful demon/youkai

* * *

A/N I'm alive, I swear XD Just struggling with school and creative block. So I spent literally an entire day just sitting on my bed drawing Kagome and Inuyasha, because "The It Couple" is hurting my heart reading it, and I need some shamelessly fluffy OTP in my life ('cause heaven knows it ain't happening in real life for me XD)

Also, anatomy studies are totally not just an excuse to draw abs. They're not, I swear! *sweats nervously*

I've decided to do something new with the glossary from now on; if I've used a word in a previous chapter, I ain't writing it again, hahah, plus I think it's kind of annoying for readers, too.

As ever, have fun, don't die, love yourselves, don't do drugs coz drugs are bad, make some art, eat your greens, drink lots of water, yep I'm done, and for those of you reading this, thank you because that means that you actually care, bwahahah XD hah

...

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Kiss Me Slowly - Parachute  
_


	18. His Silent 'Thanks'

**...**

* * *

 **Episode 166** _(English Sub, English Dub)_

 **Chapter 356** _(English Translation)_

" _His Silent 'Thanks'"_

 **...**

* * *

It wasn't entirely surprising that he had led her into a tree, quite literally sitting on a limb beside her. He might have been a dog, but the way he seemed to retreat to the upper foliage of the forests seemed to suggest he has a bird, too. It wasn't surprising either that he avoided looking into her face. If he could avoid it, Inuyasha tended not to stare into people's faces or their eyes, which was typically a perceived threat to him.

What was off was that he didn't look into her face at all, on indeed at any part of her, instead staring off somewhere in the direction of the fields. What was surprising was how he had situated her beside him, sitting so very close so that their legs knocked together as they were pushed in the breeze. What was odd was that he stayed absolutely perfectly silent for a very long time, his leg tucked under his knee, head bowed and ears low. What was frightening was the expression on what she could see of his face; totally and utterly defeated.

Obviously, they were up in this tree - one of the Inuyasha's favorites, she knew from how often she saw him sitting in it sulking or napping - for a reason. But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what exactly that reason was. Unable to deal with the odd, somewhat unsettling silence, Kagome licked her lips and asked without preamble, "So… What's up? You didn't want the others to hear?"

Inuyasha didn't answer, only turning his head slightly towards her and looking down at her bandaged feet. Most of her wounds from standing in the oni's stomach were wrapped and dressed; covered in clean white gauze and medicinal herbs that peeked out here and there. The only part of her injuries which could be seen were her toes, which were a painful, raw red.

"Your feet… Hurt, don't they?" he asked softly, still staring.

"Inuyasha..." His concern was touching, really. The truth was that yes, her feet hurt, but it was a dull tingling, more of a discomfort than anything so long as she didn't put a lot of pressure on them. Not that the boy beside her needed to know that; had she admitted that to him, she wouldn't have been able to go where she wanted for two weeks because he'd have been carrying her everywhere. His tone, however, suggested that he had noticed how gingerly she moved about.

She knew that Inuyasha was often worried about her well-being, and whenever she was hurt he was upset. He'd promised to protect her several times before, after all, went to such great lengths to keep her safe. She knew that despite his irate demeanor and the typical huff and bluster that accompanied whenever she thanked him for even _trying_ to protect her, he really hurt on the inside when he failed. It had always been like this, even at the beginning, and now she knew that he thought that it was his fault she was hurt. He was a funny boy. It wasn't his fault. She had run to him in that ogre's belly of her own volition, and she would do it a hundred-thousand times again, but for whatever reason he saw it was due to some inadequacy or ineptitude of his own, and it left him very obviously distraught.

With a short, half-hearted scoff and a dull expression, Inuyasha turned away again. "Dammit, they're _right_. I still have a long way to go," he sighed in defeat, for once letting Shippo's flippant and rather demeaning comments go to his head. It was honestly sad, and Kagome felt her heart droop a little as he at last looked into her face. "I'm sorry, Kagome," he murmured after a few long seconds. "It's my fault. I made you suffer. I caused you to go through a painful experience, and now…" He sighed again. Kagome somehow knew he wasn't just talking about her feet.

He really needed to know just how wrong he was. She needed to tell him just how _good_ that memory was, just how she would never ever forget that experience for all the good things it had given her, not the opposite. Cocking her head to the side to better look at him, Kagome forced a rather surprised expression to her face. "No, not at all," she said lightly. "Don't worry about it. If you hadn't been there, none of us would have even made it out alive. We'd all be dead. Besides…" She looked away shyly, fiddling with a piece of her hair and glancing once at the hanyou. He was staring somewhere into space, but his ears were tilted her way.

Kagome took a deep breath. "I was actually pretty happy back there."

Inuyasha's head snapped up, staring at her with a wide-eyed, startled expression, but she didn't stop smiling. All she could see was the image of his face, of the smoldering, half-lidded ochre gaze he had fixed her with, framed by his long, dark lashes and those jagged violet markings that creeped along his cheekbones. All she could see was his mouth moving as he asked for her to stay, stay, stay with him, support him, strengthen him. After a moment, she allowed herself a low chuckle, and turned back the the startled and bewildered looking young man beside her. A wide smile had plastered itself across her face. Like it was the most obvious, most natural thing in the world, she clarified after a second, "I was glad I was by your side."

"Kagome…" He looked so surprised, so touched, his jaw was hanging gently open and his honey-colored eyes were wide and soft. Kagome had to bite back a rather saddened giggle. If there was something else about Inuyasha that she understood, it was his surprise that there were people in the wide, cruel world he lived in who were willing to sacrifice everything for him. Unfortunately, he still didn't seem to realize that she was one of those few.

Smiling peacefully despite the wry thought, Kagome closed her eyes and moved over on the branch until her leg was pressed up against that idiotic boy's, laying her head on his shoulder. He gave a tiny grunt of surprise - barely more than the air pausing and making sound through his nose, really - and he stiffened for a moment, but with a warm rush that left her feeling light and euphoric, Inuyasha settled his head against hers with a low, almost inaudible sigh.

He wouldn't know how much she loved him, probably ever. He wouldn't know how much she _had_ and how much she would _still_ sacrifice for him anymore than she knew the thoughts going through his own head. But from the warm weight of his body pressed against her side, the gentleness with which he pressed his cheek atop her hair, the arm that snaked around her back to rest his hand against her side and pull her even closer to him, she could understand his totally and utterly silent " _thanks_ ".

Sango and Miroku found them later still like that when Sango took the crippled houshi out of the hut to see what good the air outside would do for him: sitting with shy arms wrapped around the another, cheeks pressed against chests or crowns and looking perfectly, wonderfully at peace with the world. Because despite the terrifying prospect of the uncertain future, despite the pain and the horrors sure to be awaiting them, the sun was setting crimson and fire in the sky across from them; a silent thanks to them all.

The monk and the taijiya exchanged crooked, knowing smirks, but did not otherwise acknowledge the sight.

There wasn't really any need.

* * *

 _Glossary:_

 _nothing new..._

* * *

A/N Lookit that, I'm alive still! And struggling to write anything, especially the new full length fic I got planned. Don't you love writing and then realizing you've got gaping plot holes? Coz I don't, hahah XD

Definitely one of my favorite scenes in the anime/manga.

* * *

 _Currently listening to: Sing - My Chemical Romance  
_


	19. HANDS OFF

**...**

* * *

 **Chapter 452** _(English Translation)_

" _HANDS. OFF."_

 ** _..._**

* * *

The fire was warm, keeping the chill of the grey fog surrounding them off their skin, and the enticing smell of the roasting river fish was a surefire way to get their spirits up once again. After all, full bellies led to good moods and renewed hope; it didn't take a genius to know that.

And renewed hope was something all of them needed just now, too. Even though the day had been exhausting, with each of them fighting for hours and hours against the yamaashiri, the mood of the inutachi was unusually subdued. Normally, Shippo would have been crawling in Kagome's lap and badgering when the fish would be done, or Miroku would be entertaining them all with the story of some-odd mishap Mushin-sama had made while Miroku was a young boy, or Sango would have been petting Kirara, but no. None of that tonight, it seemed.

Perhaps part of the somber mood was because of Koga's presence with them, but that didn't make much sense. They'd gotten along fine with him on the nights before now (well, except for Inuyasha, but the rest of the group decided to look over that detail), even getting to a point only the night previously that the dashing youkai had told them all of the time that he had mistaken his grandfather with his mentor and spent the next week being chased around every time he was seen.

Then again, the entire group had made it out alive. There had been a near miss with Miroku using the Kazaana, but it had been stopped just in time, saving them all. No, tonight was just the end of an exhausting day for them all. That was it.

"It's cooked," Kagome said as loudly as she dared, lifting one of the fish from the fire. Its pleasant aroma and her proclamation had them all reaching forward with eager expressions. Kagome handed the fish she had taken to Shippo, then reached for another for herself. Two fish remained on their spits; Inuyasha's and Koga's.

"I can't believe it," Koga said, something like amusement in his voice.

"What's that, Koga-kun?" Kagome asked, pausing with her own food halfway to her mouth and staring at the wolf demon with curiosity.

Koga looked legitimately befuddled, waving a flippant hand around them, gesturing to the fire, to the fish, to the way they were all sitting around, relaxed as they ate. "You guys seriously eat and rest like this everyday? 'Cause me," he gestured to himself with his thumb, his dark brow furrowed a little before he reached for his own meal, "I'd normally keep running for two or three _days_ without stopping."

"Sure we rest," Miroku said from where his back was up against the heavy tree they'd decided to make camp, his face bright with curiosity. "We're human, after all. Humans need to rest and eat quite a bit more than youkai do."

"Must have been difficult for your companions," Sango said delicately, her tone laced with the faintest disdain that was completely lost on the ookami.

"Ginta and Hakkaku?" Koga asked, jabbing his finger behind him now. "Nah, they don't care. I just thought that getting where we need to be quick was more important than being hungry or not. Just wish they were faster than they are. I kinda think that we should get moving faster too, actually. You know, 'time is of the essence' thing? We lost a lot of time with the yamaashiri today, and we need to make it up if we're ever gonna reach Naraku." With that, the wolf shoved half his fish into his mouth and began to chew.

"Dangit, every _single_ night, you nag about this," came a voice from above them all. She didn't need to look up to know it was Inuyasha sitting grumpily in the tree, didn't need to see him to know there was an irate scowl on his brow, but she did it anyway. "If you wanna run around that much, go do a hundred laps around the forest, wolf-breath, and then don't bother coming back."

Kagome sighed. There was nothing new with this routine, of course, but it still exasperated her when ornery boy got like this. However, again, this was nothing new, so she decided not to address it. "Inuyasha?" she called up to the sliver of his shoulder that she could see from where she sat. "Why don't you come down here and eat, too?"

" _Keh_! And breathe in all the disgusting wolf _stench_ down there?" The hanyou glared at her a moment, then turned away again, crossing his arms behind his head. " _Tch_ , yeah right, I don't think so."

"Oh, you," Kagome sighed, leaning to the side a little to try and see his face. It didn't make much of a difference. She knew why he was upset, really, she did. She knew that Inuyasha might have acted like he had a tough attitude, and maybe he really was more thick-skinned than some of them gave him credit for, but she knew also that Inuyasha always felt like he was being ignored when Koga was anywhere near her. Even earlier was a good example of that, when the three of them had been racing to where Miroku and Sango were. She had been riding on his back, yet when Koga had been discussing with them what could have been up with all the undead porcupine youkai it was like he wasn't even there. And of course there was Koga's constant attempts at courtship. Those always seemed to set off the jealous streak in Kagome's dog-eared friend.

However, the fact remained that she was worried. She was worried about Koga, she was worried about all of her friends. Koga had made the decision to use the divine protection of his ancestors to protect his jewel shards from Naraku's influence, and now that that was gone… There was no telling if he would lose control of his legs now. And if he were in a dangerous position when that happened, he could die if they weren't with him. "Inuyasha, you _know_ it's better for all of us to stick together, right? To keep each other safe?"

"I thought _I_ was _plenty_ enough protection for ya!" Inuyasha barked back, not looking at her though she could see how he removed his arms from their place behind his head and crossed tightly against his chest. Beside her, Shippo gave a huge, long-suffering sigh, which she ignored, rolling her eyes.

"It's not just me who needs protection," she clarified, humoring him. All at once, huge, rough hands clasped hers, and Koga's sun-kissed face was inches away from her own. She blinked, but even as she looked into his ocean blue eyes gazing fixedly into her own, and saw his flirtatious fanged smirk, there was no reaction from her. It wasn't like looking into Inuyasha's face.

"I could protect you," Koga said huskily, his eyelids half lowered. "Wouldn't mind if it were just you and me, too."

" _HANDS_!"

Koga lunged back barely fast enough for Inuyasha's foot and fully transformed sword to just miss him, avoiding having his leg snapped soundly in two and his head altogether severed from his neck. While not entirely surprised Inuyasha had suddenly leapt into action, it didn't stop Kagome from yelping in shock, either.

Inuyasha leaned close to Koga, the skin around his eyes tight, his lips drawn back in a snarl, and Tetsusaiga nearly pressed into the ookami's nose. Koga held the blade between his hands, glaring back up at the hanyou in equal unamusement with his mouth pressed into a hard line. " _Off_ ," Inuyasha continued tersely.

Kagome leaned forward, her heart beating a mile a minute with the surprise attack, but patted Inuyasha's forearm all the same to try and get his attention. " _Inuyasha_."

He ignored her, his hair actually rising on his increasing demonic wind like he were going to attack. "Or I kill you," he added to the youkai.

There was nothing for it. Glancing once at her friends watching with glazed stares - obviously quite sick of Inuyasha's possessive nature - Kagome sighed. "Osuwari."

Inuyasha crumpled to the ground with a short shriek.

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Ookami - "wolf"

* * *

A/N I always have a good giggle with this chapter, hahah

I've said it once and I'll say it again: _Inuyasha: The Final Act_ pretty much sucked because it skipped over pretty much all the friggin awesome stuff like this and the three chapters before this one (those chapters will hopefully get written out as well. Go read them)

Have fun, don't die, love yourselves, don't do drugs, leave a review, haaaaaaah byeee

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 _Currently listening to: Rakuen - Do As Infinity (legit my fave song in the entire Inuyasha franchise)_ _  
_


	20. The Safest Place (Meet Miroku)

…

* * *

 **Episode 16** _(English Sub, English Dub)_

 **Chapter 54** _(English Translation)_

" _The Safest Place (Meet Miroku)"_

…

* * *

"Kagome!"

With a scream and a painful thud as two bodies collided, Kagome crashed into Miroku at full speed, knocking the monk off of his feet and sending the two of them flying. They landed several feet away, and slid several most before coming to a stop, the dust of the road billowing up around them.

" _KAGOME_!" Inuyasha gasped, rushing forward. The girl - that stupid, idiotic girl! - was sprawled across the monk Miroku's chest, unmoving. For a moment, Inuyasha was terrified that she had died, thought it was more likely that she had lost consciousness. That collision wasn't a pretty one. But a moment later she did sit up, rubbing the top of her head and hissing in pain. Inuyasha deflated a little with relief.

"Ow…" Kagome lowered her hand and blinked hard a few times, her vision fuzzy. However, her gaze was almost immediately caught by the sight of the monk's right hand, the hand that had only moments before been devouring whole buildings, animals, and the road around them. Now, that hand had pale blue prayer beads wrapped around his palm, messily crossing the expanse between his wrist and his fingers, but there nonetheless. There was no way that they could have been there only moments before, which could mean only one thing in Kagome's mind; Miroku was in control of this Kazaana, this black hole in his right hand that devoured anything and everything in sight. And that he had also warned the people around him to stay away, to save themselves from this terrible power…

" _Gods_ , Kagome, you idiot!" Kagome looked over her shoulder to see a pale faced Inuyasha running towards her, stopping several feet shy of where she and Miroku were. The Tetsusaiga was untransformed in his hand, and he looked both furious and bewildered. "You didn't purposely throw yourself at him, did ya?"

"Yeah, I did," Kagome affirmed breathlessly. Inuyasha's eyes widened, and he looked like was going to say something, but she cut him off before he could. "This Miroku guy," she said defensively, "He could have killed us ages ago with that black hole in his right hand, but he didn't." Ignoring her hanyou companion's muttered "black hole?", she turned and looked back at Miroku. "I'm sure he's someone we can talk to reasonably. Who knows, maybe he'll give us a hand?"

He had a handsome face, she noted, looking him over for any injuries, rugged in some aspects, boyish in others. He must have been older than Inuyasha, though not by much; eighteen or nineteen at most, with a strong jaw and dark bangs that tickled his cheekbones. His lips were slightly parted, his dark brows as thick as Inuyasha's and drawn slightly together. He was breathing, but didn't appear conscious. At least he was alive.

All at once, something brushed against her backside, up and under her skirt. Kagome yelped as the thing touching her rear squeezed it, her back suddenly poker straight and hands flying in a panic. So did Inuyasha. Without much more than the thought that she had to get away from what she could only describe as sexual harassment, she nearly fell over herself trying to get away; away to the safest thing her blank mind could think of: Inuyasha. Inuyasha - watching the monk's hand lift to grope her backside under her skirt, and then as Kagome squeaked and scrambled away as fast as she could to him - was only too happy to oblige. He took the few steps forward to where Kagome met him, falling to his knees and catching her so she wouldn't blow right past him, holding her as close as he could. She pressed herself further against him as he turned her away from the monk, trembling and grabbing fistfuls of his Robe of the Fire Rat, trying to get as far away from the lecherous houshi as she could. Inuyasha pulled his lips back in a snarl, a growl rising furiously in the back of his throat as the handsome dark-haired monk sat up, blinking hard.

"I was wrong," she announced raggedly, gritting her teeth with her eyes wide with horror. She looked like she was about to either burst into tears or start screaming. "Go ahead and kill him!" And after all she had thought about him, that maybe he wasn't such a bad guy, too!

"You damn good-for-nothing bouzo!" Inuyasha seethed, raising the Tetsusaiga and baring his fangs as the young man sat up slowly across from him. His hand was shaking with his fury.

The monk Miroku raised both hands placatingly, nowhere near a surrender and looking not the least bit ashamed as a high-pitched whine left Kagome's throat. "Settle down. We'll talk."

...

* * *

 _Glossary:_

Houshi - a Buddhist monk

Bouzo - a rude term for a low-ranking monk

Kazaana - the cursed hole in Miroku's right hand; "Wind Tunnel"

* * *

A/N Little did any of them know, they would soon end up best friends for the rest of their lives, forever and ever and ever and Miroku would end up teasing Inuyasha over the silliest things guys do, and Kagome and Miroku are BrOTP XD Kagome would have smacked anyone who would have told her that.

Been a while since I've written something short like this. Lemme say that this episode has some of my personal favorite animation in the series, and I wish they would have done it more. It just... Reminds me of my own personal art style, I guess? I dunno, lolz

 **SO THIS IS HERE WHILE I FINISH WRITING UP CHAPTER TWO OF MY NEXT FIC _FOREST SPIRITS_ , SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THAT AND PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR HEARTS RIPPED OUT (hopefully)~~~**

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 _Currently listening to: Wanderer's Lullaby - Adriana Figueroa  
_


	21. Dead Red Sea

…

* * *

 **Chapter 122** _(English Translation)_

" _Red Dead Sea"_

 **...**

* * *

It was a dark world. A red world. A ghastly, grim dream world. Part of her knew this, somewhere in the back of her mind, but that was the part that never registered, that was senseless to existence and to her moving limbs. With numb smoothness, Sango lifted the Hiraikotsu over her head, holding it straight out to her side and dropping it with a dull _thunk_ on the forest floor.

There were four bodies before her, lying still and silent in their odd and wild positions. Bodies that she knew, and yet she did not: a little form with a puff of golden fur and a shock of rust colored hair, his dainty fox feet dark with foul smelling mud from his failed, frenzied escape. He lay draped over the stomach of a pretty girl Sango's age with tangled jet black locks haloed around her pale face, barely hidden from her view.

Her arms were thrown at odd angles like a rag doll, her strange white kosode was wet looking and dark, a ghastly wound hidden by the tiny body of the kitsune, and a dark liquid trickled from her barely open mouth. Her delicate hands were smeared with sticky red, and her cold fingers were limply entwined with those of her clawed companion slumped beside her. His back was against a tree, his chin lolling against his bloody chest and ochre eyes wide and glassy, unseeing and contrasting sharply against the sanguine river that sat stickily against his cheeks, the tiny snow-white hairs of his bangs clinging to his cheeks. His jaw was hanging slackly open, dog ears drooped and limp, and his other hand held an ancient, rusted sword. There was an unholy gash that oozed sluggishly across his chest, starting in his heart, crossing his shoulder, and scraping its way in a clean, deep cut into the tree he laid his weight unknowingly against.

Across from him, nearly touching his bare feet, was a black-haired young man - a monk - sprawled across his back and similarly unmoving. Sango's eyes tracked his handsome features, from his dark brow shiny with sweat to his cheeks shiny with blood. They trailed down the bare expanse of his neck, with its long sinews and and along the sharp ridge of his throat that lead into his black robes that glistened in the red light filtering through the trees. His arms were flung across the ground at his sides like he were hung from a cross even as he lay there, motionless, his shakujo inches away from his slightly curled fingers. Her gaze turned back up to his face, to his dark eyes that were as glassy and hazed over as the hanyou across from him; empty, and blind, and dead.

Because that's what they were.

 _Dead_.

* * *

 _Glossary:_

none

* * *

A/N Yeah, I love writers block. So instead, I focus on creepy and gruesome descriptions from Sango's point of view, based off of a single panel in the manga, because that's the best. Also, the title is, quite literally, from the song I'm listening to... Because I listened to it all the while I was typing. Creepy song, but it's good.

I like descriptions. And graphic depictions of character deaths. Be on the lookout for those when I ACTUALLY update, like, an actual story. Because it's happening and I love it, lolz love ya

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 _Currently listening to: Shut Eye - Stealing Sheep  
_


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